


Where You Are

by Avocado



Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Cunnilingus, F/M, Kissing, Loss of Virginity, Love, Making Out, Rating will go up later, Reader insert fic, She/her pronouns, Tattooed Reader, lalotai, reader has a brother, reader is afab with a vagina, wayfinder reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2017-01-16
Packaged: 2018-09-12 05:03:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 35,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9056509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avocado/pseuds/Avocado
Summary: You land on an island expecting to find a new home. What you don't bargain for is a guy with a huge hook and dancing tattoos claiming to be a demigod. ((Set long before Moana. Maui is a relatively young demigod, probably less than a thousand years old. For this fic he still has most of his tattoos.))





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I've been a bit down recently and listening to the moana soundtrack track has cheered me up a lot. I wanted to write something because Maui is REALLY attractive, so HERE YOU ARE.

  
The wind was in your hair and the salt water sprayed on your face, and you had never been happier. The ocean was with you today and your village's small fleet of ships was moving forward apace. It wouldn't be long before you would hit new land, you could just feel it. Feel it in your bones.

You'd been sailing for a couple of weeks now and still no luck had come. Being the chief wayfinder in the village meant that you had a a big responsibility on your shoulders. You couldn't afford to let your people down when they were counting on you to find them a home.

Looking across the waves you didn't see anything on the vast, glittering ocean. Not at first.

Perhaps things might have changed if you hadn't have seen the hawk.

Out of the corner of your eye it became apparent to you that your fleet had a travelling companion. A vast hawk was flying overhead. It was clearly quite bold as it had no qualms flying near people - indeed it seemed to be dropping closer every second, until it was almost level with your boat. You spent a moment watching it, mesmerised. And for a tiny moment you could have sworn that it looked at you right in the eye.

You heard your name called and turned to see your brother Aleki standing behind you, a huge grin plastered on his face. A quick check back revealed the hawk had gone. You felt a little disappointed for some reason.

"If you keep staring off like that you're going to fall into the water!" he laughed. You rolled your eyes and splashed him.

"Let me be. Have I ever gotten us lost before?" you asked. Being both the chief's younger sister and the wayfinder you had a lot to live up to, and it was nice to disappear into your own thoughts every now and then. You knew your brother meant no harm when he teased you, though, but you were aware how long this journey was taking. You loved him dearly but he could be so irritating sometimes. But then again, that was all brothers, you supposed.

"Don't push yourself, kid," he said to you, his voice calmer. It was hard to hide how you were feeling from him. But you smiled at his reassurance.

"I've got to. I want everyone to be safe."  
And then, as if the gods themselves had heard you;

"Land! Land!" the excited chorus began to break out across the boats, carrying over the waves. You shot your brother a winning look and he poked his tongue out at you as you got to your feet.

"Stay on course, I'll bring us in!" you announced, grabbing the boat's sheet and moving your sail into the wind. A feeling of confidence crept over you and you found yourself smiling again, knowing you were the one who would finally bring your people to a new island where they could thrive. It felt good, being able to do that for your village.  
You landed first, rising up gently onto the sand, before hopping off onto the soft land and guiding in all the other ships, embracing your friends and the other villagers in celebration for your safety.  
  
"Alright, time for celebration later!" your brother announced, clapping his hands together. "For now we need shelter and food! Come on people, you know the drill!"

It was true, they did. Whilst you had the knack for getting your people to land the islands you came to were mostly small and you never stayed there for more than a couple of years. Every time you set sail you hoped that this time you would pick the place where your village could finally put down its roots properly. A place where you could finally call home. Maybe be able to marry and start your own family with the promise of stability.

You sighed and watched the boats being pulled in to shore to be safe if the tide rose. Well, food you could do. There were certainly coconut trees around here, but if you were lucky maybe there would be something a bit more fancy for the first day of disembarking. You wandered off, knowing you'd be fine on your own, and also craving a bit of time by yourself after so long at sea surrounded by people.

The undergrowth was thick and it could have tripped you as you went through it, but your feet were light and nimble as you stepped over twisted roots. You kept your eyes both trained on the branches of the trees and down in the shrubs for fruits. So far nothing edible you had to conclude, furrowing your brow. You paused and tried to listen out for water running, hoping maybe some fish might be around in some small estuary here. You stalked forward so gently you didn't even notice that your foot got tangled in a vine, and it sent you toppling straight over.

You expected to land on soft, wet dirt. Instead you landed on what could only be described as a slab of muscle. Two incredibly large hands held your arms in support and you heard a deep, rumbling laugh above you.

"Whoa, okay. Slow down there," said the stranger, helping you upright. A mix of embarrassment and foot cramp meant that you didn't have time to wonder about where the man came from as you were certain he hadn't been there a second ago. You pulled yourself out of his grasp and straightened up.

This man was... big. He was built like a barge, but every curve of him was clearly solid muscle, and he didn't have a problem showing that off. His skin was covered in tattoos, intricate and beautiful, and when you looked at his face - a little goofy, a little cocky, but gorgeous - your heart skipped a beat.

"I..." you weren't quite sure how to continue for a second, but quickly regained yourself.  
"I'm sorry."

"Hey, no sweat. I get this reaction a lot. You know, open-mouthed awe. People falling over at the sight of me. It's cool. Drink it in."  
He threw out his arms, flicking his hair as he went. You stared at him and knew you weren't hiding the look of utter confusion on your face. You had no idea who he was talking about. Nor did you have any idea as to why he was carrying a fishhook that was bigger than you were. You wondered if you had landed on the wrong island.

"Um, yes. I mean I'm sorry that I didn't know there were people here."

The man considered this before giving a laugh so booming you were worried he had burst your eardrums.

"HA! 'People'. You crack me up. It's okay, you can drop the act. I'm just like any other guy. Well, except for the whole demigod thing. Ya know, got that going for me."

"Wait, _what?"_ you said. No matter how attractive this man was you weren't going to let him spout nonsense at you. "Demigod? What are you talking about?"

It was his turn to look confused. Affronted, even. One eyebrow shot up.

"Uh, okay. It's Maui? You know? Look at the tattoos here, lady. Not giving anything away?"

He gestured to one large pectoral. A tiny ink version of himself stood, smiling vastly - until all of a sudden it gave you a wink. You screeched and leapt backwards, your heel catching on a root once again. And, once again, a hand wrapped around your wrist tight and pulled you back up to your feet.

"And I just saved you."

"Okay, stopping me from falling over isn't saving me. Though..." you looked to the tattoo once again, who was standing heroically, his hair waving. He waved at you. "...though the tattoo is certainly strange."

"Uh, okay, don't offend him," said the man - Maui? - as the tattoo crossed its arms. "And I didn't mean the vine. I meant the fact that you had clearly been sailing for days and you were nowhere near land, and so I pulled up this island for you and led you to it."

"Pulled up... what are you...?"

"Don't worry, alpha wayfinder, it's our little secret," he said, tapping the side of his nose and winking. A hot flush rushed over you and you wished it was just from frustration.

"Okay, claiming to be a some sort of magic man is one thing, but insulting me to my face about my ability to keep my people safe?! I've had enough of this. Keep away from my village, and keep away from me." You turned on your heel - not tripping this time - and began to walk off.

That laugh again. "Alright, if _you_ can stay away from _me_. And if you're looking for food there's banana trees about fifty feet east. You're welcome."

You turned around to fire back something, but he was... gone. You looked around but there was no sign of him anywhere. That was surely impossible, for a man that large to disappear so quickly? It wasn't as if the foliage was dense after all. You watched as a wandering lizard made its way up a tree and considered everything for a moment. If you were going to entertain the idea that this guy was even vaguely who he said he was, then maybe it was worth having a search. What did you have to lose?

So you looked to the sky and listened to the wind and found the east and you walked the fifty feet into a thicket of lush trees and, sure enough, towering above you were several huge ripe clusters of bananas.

"Hm," you muttered to yourself, tying your hair up into a bun and getting ready to scale the tree. Maybe he hadn't given you a bum deal here, but you still hoped you wouldn't have to encounter him again.

The gods had different plans.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A deal is made. Hope you enjoy!

"Where did you even get these from?" asked Hi'ilei from beside you, munching down her fifth banana. Hi'ilei was your cousin, younger than you by a couple of years, and one of your closest friends. The two of you sat back from the communal fire pit that had been created in the middle of what would be your village. Builders still worked erecting makeshift huts for this first night before the sun set to give you shelter. The construction would begin properly the next day.

"I've been looking all over and can't find a single banana tree."

The noise of the work covered up the conversation between you and Hi'ilei, but you looked around to make sure nobody was listening anyway.

"Have you... uh, look. This is gonna sound weird, but have you ever of Ma-"

"Ooh, have you seen Malosi? He's soooo cute," piped in a sudden voice from above you, taking on a ridiculous high-pitched voice. Your brother sat down heavily in the sand between the two of you, putting an arm around each.

"Oh, get off," you sighed, shaking your shoulders to remove his hand. It was nice to see your brother happy but he did have a habit of turning up at the worst possible time. "We weren't talking about 'boys' you know." Well, it was almost the truth.

"Well, I mean..." Hi'ilei looked over to where Malosi was putting some more coconut leaves on the fire. When he looked up at your cousin she shot him a dazzling smile and in return he flushed a little before scurrying away. Hi'ilei grinned to herself.

"So what were you talking about?" asked your brother, taking the last of the banana from Hi'ilei's hand and eating it.

"Uh... don't worry about it," you said, giving him a reassuring smile. It seemed to work because he didn't bother to continue asking questions.

You loved Aleki dearly, and he was a strong and loving chief, but he was also your brother and he was kind of... protective. As both his sister and chief wayfinder you weren't sure what his reaction would be to the idea of you meeting up with a strange man claiming to be a demigod. Perhaps you'd leave it alone for now.

The night drew on and people retired. You headed to a smaller hut with a Hi'ilei and a couple of the other island girls, but stayed awake long after they had fallen asleep, watching the fire. The embers crackled up into the night sky, as clear and bright as the stars.

You thought about Maui even though you had tried not to, but in the quiet of the night he popped back into your head like that little tattoo of his. That had been odd. And the way he was built... to claim to be a demigod when you weren't was sort of crazy. But weren't you just as crazy to believe if off the bat? It was all too difficult to make sense of by yourself.

You knew what you had to do.  
  
You realised you probably weren't going to get any sleep that night. Not while thoughts of him were still running around in your head.

  
It had probably been over twelve hours since you'd first bumped into him. Enough time had probably passed for you to brace another visit.

You packed up some salted fish, giving the excuse to those still awake that you were going to make an offering to the gods - possibly true - and headed off back into the thick jungle.

It was harder to navigate by night but your feet knew the way. You headed to the glade where you found the bananas hanging high, where he had told you to go. For the first time you were able to appreciate how pretty it was here. It looked out over a quiet section of the sea and bugs endowed with bright lights skimmed across its surface.

You didn't have long to bask.  
  
"I knew you couldn't resist," came his voice. You jumped out of your skin and looked around, but he was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"Come on, if you wanna see me you gotta say my name!" He trilled. You rolled your eyes but couldn't be bothered to argue.

"Maui."

You felt a tap on your shoulder and there he was, standing far too close to you, fishhook in hand, smile plastered on his face. You froze for a second as you became acutely aware of how amazing his muscles looked in the moonlight, the way his eyes sparkled.

"I figured you'd be arguing by now. You didn't seem too impressed the last time we met though who knows why that was," said Maui, raising an eyebrow. You shook your head to clear your thoughts.

"I... look. I've been thinking. Demigod or not, I was rude to you. And if you _did_ miraculously help us to this island then I should thank you. So... thank you," you stated. Clearly he hadn't been expecting this from the surprise that took over his face. You couldn't help but laugh at his reaction, and he quickly snapped back to his senses and rolled his eyes.

"Well, you're welcome. I'm always glad to help humans. And happy to spend time with a fan," he said, sitting down heavily next to the water. He tugged at your wrist, bringing you down to his level. You squeaked a little at the change but realised he meant no harm, he just wanted you to sit next to him. You folded your legs under you and held out the fish you had wrapped in a bamboo leaf.  
  
"This is for you. If you, uh, eat," you said. Maui almost snatched the package from your hand.

"Sweet! Man, it's been ages since I had decent cooked food!" he exclaimed, and swallowed the entire fish before spitting the bones back out onto the sand, exactly into the same shape as the fish's skeleton should have been. You were a little amazed at the skill that took. He noticed.

"Pretty cool, right? I keep telling you, I'm a demigod. I can do things mortal couldn't even attempt," he laughed, eating the next one. The tiny tattoo was on his arm now and was, too, eating a little tattoo fish. It grinned at you and you smiled.  
  
"A party trick. There's a guy in the village who can dislocate his jaw like a snake and swallow an entire coconut. I bet you couldn't do that."

Maui spat out the bones and snorted.

"Uh, okay. Why would I _want_ to do that?" he asked. Noticing he had some salt stuck on the side of his mouth you instinctively reached out and wiped it away, like you'd do for anyone in your village. You didn't even realise you were doing it until your hand was on his skin, fingers dancing around his lips. You hadn't meant to. Just the conversation was flowing so easily it had seemed like second nature to be so familiar with him. His eyes were wide, but he didn't look affronted. You snatched your hand away quickly.

"Umh, sorry. I..."

"No, no, it's okay," he put down the food and sighed, as if he was thinking of something, trying to find the right words. "Look. I appreciate this and everything, just... you didn't seem like you were gonna come and find me again. What made you change your mind?"

"I..." it was your turn to consider, but no answer came. "I don't know."

And he looked at you, straight in the eyes. His eyes were so deep and dark and beautiful, and for a second you thought he might go on to say something else. Or do something else. And you weren't quite sure you would have stopped it.

But then a particularly enthusiastic wave splashed over the feet of the pair of you, and you jumped back into reality. You turned away from each other and laughed awkwardly.

"Ah, what a pretty shell!" you announced loudly and a little stiffly, picking up a conch that had washed up. It was cool and smooth, shimmering a peach colour.

"My first tattoo was of a conch," you said, gesturing to the tattoo on your ankle. Maui regarded it and laughed.

"That's not a tattoo. _This_ is a tattoo," he flexed his arm to show off the tapestry trailing over his skin. Little Maui flexed too.

"I mean, they're _good_... I could probably do you a better one," you said, cockily. There went that eyebrow again. Gods, it did something for you.

"You're a tattooist?"

"Of course I am. What do you take me for, some little girl afraid of sharp things? I bet you I could give you a tattoo better than any you have."

"Impossible. I'm a demigod, nobody gave these tattoos. I earned them. Human tattooing equipment won't break my skin."

"Oh really?"

"Really. If you can come back and give me a tattoo..." he paused, considering, and looked around, "I'll let you put anything you want on my necklace. I wear this thing all the time. It's basically as much a part of me as my tattoos."

"Okay, de-"

"And if you can't," he leant in close. His face was almost touching yours, and there was a smug smile on his face. "If you can't then, I get a kiss."

Your heart skipped a beat. You could have said no. You should have said no.

"Yeah. Okay."

You didn't say no.

Maui grinned at you.

"Okay, I'll meet you here, say, tomorrow?"

"It's a-" you stopped yourself before saying 'date'. "It's a deal."  
  
You got to your feet and held your conch to you, looking out to sea for a brief second. And when you turned back he had gone.

You made your way back to your village and considered everything. One of two things had to be true. Either you really wanted to show off your skills as a tattooist, or you really wanted to kiss this man. This beautiful man you had just met.

What worried was you weren't sure which one you wanted more. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A giant hawk reappears.

"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate it," laughed Aleki, "just you've not wanted to give me a tattoo for ages."

"Well I changed my mind," you muttered, tapping gently on the needle into his skin, and finishing off your art with a flourish.

"There you go. A new tattoo for a new home," you said. It was a little geometric wave tattoo that went all around his arm, and a tiny boat sailed on it. Aleki considered it and grinned at you.

"Nice job, sis," he said, getting to his feet and stretching. "Back to work for me."

"Don't you wanna sit and rest for a little while? It's gotta heal," you replied.

"Yeah, but I have to help build our village back up. I'm the chief, I should be out there." He grinned at you and put his hands on his hips, standing like some grand hero, and you rolled your eyes and kicked him in the butt. He rolled his eyes.

"Next!" you called out, loudly. When word had gotten out that you were doing tattoos to celebrate your successful voyage a lot of people had expressed their interest, and you had a small waiting list to get on with whilst construction went on.

Three days had passed since you'd made your bargain with Maui, and you had been practising your tattooing almost every second of it. Your hand was getting cramped but man, did those tattoos look good.

To be honest, maybe you didn't need this much practise. Maybe you were just putting it off because the next time you saw him you might have to kiss him, and you didn't know quite how to feel.

Malosi looked up from where he was weaving coconut fibres into baskets at the sound of your voice, and got to his feet.  
  
"Hey Malosi," you said, smiling gently, cleaning off your mother-of-pearl needle and getting ready for another tattoo. Malosi, looking a little flustered as always, managed to greet you back before softly sitting on the sand next to you.  
  
"Arm okay for the tattoo?" you asked, thinking about the size of Maui's tree trunk arms compared to the men in your village. Malosi was a sweet boy, a little older than your cousin, and he was quite good looking if you could ever think of him that way. But you'd never really had much serious thought about marriage, not until you got your people to a good island. And now that you'd met Maui...

Well, no point lingering on that.

You realised Malosi had been gently saying your name and you had been completely ignoring him. You shook the thoughts out of your head.

"Yes! Sorry," you laughed.

"How far do you go in your own head?" asked Malosi, but not angrily. You smiled awkwardly.

"I cross oceans in my mind, you know."

Malosi looked a bit confused and nodded. It was sweet, but you couldn't help but wonder what sort of quip Maui might have said in response.  
  
"I've, um. I've been meaning to ask you someth-"

The rest of his sentence was interrupted by the piercing cry of a bird. The two of you jumped in surprise. You dropped the needle into the sand and turned around. Sitting at the edge of the campsite, atop the thickest coconut tree, sat the giant hawk that had flown with you across the sea. Your face lit up when you saw him.

"It's you!" you laughed, getting to your feet and scurrying over. The hawk had landed back away from most of the commotion, far away enough to not be seen by the prying eyes of anyone who hadn't first noticed him land.

The hawk, though incapable of human facial expressions, seemed pleased to be recognised. It let out a contented bird noise as you approached it.

"Hey there buddy," you said, treading lighter as you got closer. "Come to check up on me, huh?"

"Uh, is that safe...?" asked Malosi, who you hadn't realised had followed you. The hawk's feathers rippled as he got closer.

"Of course it's safe. Look at him, he's a noble beast," you said, smiling. You went to step forward again but Malosi grabbed your arm to stay you.

Immediately the bird let out a terrible screech. You flinched but Malosi straight up shout in fright, and you heard the sound of his footsteps in the sand as he run away. But as soon as he had gone the hawk seemed to settle again.  
  
"Didn't like Malosi, huh?" you asked. "You shouldn't be so judgemental. He's not a bad guy. Besides, if you want to protect me from men, maybe you should go and find that Maui and teach him a thing about humility. Bring him down a peg or two. Or don't. Maybe he wouldn't be him if you did."

The hawk didn't move, just studied you with its sharp eyes. Slowly, you reached your hand out to it. The hawk considered it and then moved his beak under your palm. You run your fingers through the soft feathers on the top of his head.

"Aren't you beautiful," you muttered, coming in closer. The hawk nuzzled into your breasts and you laughed a little, taken aback. But then it raised its head to rest its forehead against yours. Your breathing hitched at the intimate gesture from the wild animal. Maybe the gods had bestowed upon you an affinity with birds. Or hawks. Or just giant hawks. Either way you kept petting it.

"What lovely wings you have. Your patterns almost look like tatt..." you trailed off and looked at them. No, no way. It couldn't be.

  
You brought your head back to look at the bird.

"Maui...?"

Suddenly a loud call of your name jolted the both of you. Hi'ilei shouted for you again, and you were aware of her coming closer. The hawk took off, flying low into the underbrush, powerful wings knocking low hanging vines out of the way. You watched it go.

"Hey! Malosi just came back babbling about some kinda vicious giant bird... is he okay or did a coconut fall on his head?" Hi'ilei asked, running up beside you. You turned and forced a smile.  
  
"Yeah, he's okay. A hawk flew out of the trees and I think it scared him," you laughed. You hated lying to your cousin but it had to be done.

"Oh, okay. He's so cute," Hi'ilei laughed, before her expression turned a little more somber. "Hey, are you okay? You've seemed kind of... distracted these last couple of days."

You desperately wanted not to lie to her again. Hi'ilei was your confidant, your best friend. But what were you meant to say? _Well, Hi'ilei, I've met a guy who is telling me he's a demigod and also might be able to turn into a giant hawk. Also I've got these weird feelings for him which are developing far too fast and I don't understand them but hey, how are YOU?_

"I'm fine. Just tired from the journey," you replied. Hi'ilei took your hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"You don't need to worry. I have a really, really good feeling about this island," she said, a smile on her face you couldn't help but trust. "Your parents would be proud of you."

A funny feeling came over your heart and you squeezed your cousin's hand back.

"Thank you."

"Come on, the sun's setting. Let's go and get some food. Apparently the fishermen got a lot this catch - that's a good sign, right?"

  
You looked back to where the hawk had been and noticed one long feather lying there. You picked it up and popped it into your hair bun.  
  
"A good sign," you agreed, hopefully. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also guys, thank you for your lovely comments. I literally can't express how much they mean to me, so I'll just keep trying To write things you enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go awry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk how I feel about this chapter but I want to keep updates regular for the moment. Hope you enjoy!

Once again you didn't sleep well that night, and instead plaited the great feather into your hair in a tight braid so it wouldn't fall out. The village was coming along nicely now, the huts were beginning to take shape. You could imagine how it would look when it was built. Part of you felt guilty that you weren’t helping with the building as much as you should be, so in between tattooing you spent your time gathering food. You must have scaled a hundred trees in those few days. Your hands were sore from both intricate needlework and the rough bark.

The encounter with the hawk had shook you. Four days had passed now since you had last seen Maui. Well, you were counting it as four, as you watched the moon raise high in the sky. You figured maybe the hawk was a sign the gods wanted you to go and see him again. A sign something good was to come.

At least that was what you were hoping, you considered, as you packed up some chicken and your tattooing equipment into a knapsack and got quietly to your feet. Hi’ilei had been lying close to you and her arm went out across the space where you had been. You felt awful when you saw it – your cousin was so young and she had always relied on you so much and in return whenever you set off to find a new island she had always been there, on your boat, singing your praises and calling out confidences. But this was just something that you couldn't share with her. Rendezvousing with a stranger, a man claiming to be a demigod – who you weren't quite sure you disbelieved? – you couldn't bring her into this mess.

You’d become quite good at moving quietly. You danced across the ground, never putting a whole foot to the floor before you knew you were out of earshot of the village. Then, very much without realising, your pace had picked up and even though you weren't running you were certainly moving faster than you had been before.

You got to your clearing – because that’s how you had come to think of it, the clearing that belonged to the both of you – and there he was, sitting in the moonlight. He was resting his arms on his knees, heels digging into the sand. Every time you saw him you couldn't help but be aware of how big he was, and it set a fire in the pit of your stomach which made you squirm. But he looked so peaceful letting the waves roll over his feet, the breeze gently ruffling his hair, hook lying beside him. It was beautiful. It was so incongruous, this dauntingly huge man sitting in such peace. You found yourself still, a hand laying flat on a tree, steadying you as you watched him. You hadn't meant to. The thing was… the sight of him had made something tremor in your chest. You felt your heart beat a little bit harder, a bit faster.

“Paint a picture, it’ll last longer,” he called out, but kept looking out to the sea. You tried to hide your blush.

“I didn't want to make you jump,” you grumbled, walking towards him. “Besides, it’s nice to enjoy your company when you’re being quiet for once. Also you can call me by my name you know.”

"I would if you'd bothered telling me it," Maui replied, lazily. It crossed your mind that you hadn't in fact revealed this information to him. You cleared your throat and told him. 

"Huh. Nice name," he said, nodding.

Maui shot you a grin as you settled yourself down next to him, unfolding your little bag and handing him some food.

“Thanks,” he said, a bit surprised. A short pause, then, “Not that I don't appreciate it. Because I do. A lot. But you don't have to bring me food you know. I can feed myself.”

You tore the chicken apart with your fingers and popped some into your mouth.

“I don't know. I just figured it was the polite thing to do. And I don't like the thought of you eating alone. It’s good to eat with…” _the people you care about._ “People.”

“Didn’t expect you to get philosophical on me,” Maui laughed, but it wasn’t mocking. “Hey. Uh. Thank you. I spend a lot of time looking out for people. Not many people look out for me, you know?”

From the corner of you eye you saw mini Maui moving. On Maui’s arm you could see the tattoo locked in a wicked battle with some giant sea monster, swinging his hook around heroically, defending an island of terrified looking people.

“Well, you’ve got someone on your side,” Maui looked over and shot you a genuine smile. Before you could get too flustered you quickly finished eating and wiped your hands off on your skirt.

“Anyway, you need to keep your strength up for your tattoo. I don’t want you fainting on me.”

“Don't worry, I won't. I won’t feel it. I told you, you can’t give me a tattoo,” he said, but held out his arm anyway. Keeping your hands surprisingly steady you readied your tools. You really wanted to prove him wrong, but at the same time you couldn't help but wonder what the feel of his lips would be, if his kiss would be soft or rough, if his hand would find the bare skin of your waist and keep exploring your body...

_Stop thinking of that._

You dipped your needle in ink and hovered it on a blank patch of skin. It was okay. It was fine. Your needle had never let you down before.

You brought your hammer down to knock into his flesh. At worst you expected it to glance off. But the needle hit him, and shattered into hundreds of pieces. The sound of the mother of pearl splitting echoed over the sea.

Shards rained down and got lost in the fine sand.

“Ha! See, told you. Human tattoos don’t work on me… hey, what’s wrong?”

The pit-pat sound of tears had made themselves prevalent in the silence. They fell off of your cheeks and down in amongst the ruined needle.

“Look, if you don't want to kiss me you don't have to. I mean I never thought I was that bad looking but..."

"You didn't tell me it would break," you whispered, voice hoarse. "The needle. You didn't say that it would break if I used it on you."

"Well what did you think was going to happen?" asked Maui, confused. "I sort of implied it."

"Implied isn't the same as saying!" you said, voice getting louder. He looked dumbfounded. Perhaps you were being a bit cruel. He couldn't have known.

"What is the matter with you? You humans get so attached to things. It's just a needle. You'll get more!" Maui scoffed. You looked at him, eyes full of hurt and sadness.

"It was my mother's," you choked out. "It was the only thing I still had of hers."

His face fell as your words registered with him. He reached out a hand to you and whispered your name, eyes full of apologies, but you moved out of his reach.

"No, Maui. No."

His hand balled into a fist and he retracted it. He got to his feet, taking his hook in his hand as he went, and struck it on the ground. You flinched at the sound, but when you looked up Maui was no longer there. Instead there was the giant hawk. The one who had flown with you to this island. The one who had come to your village. The one whose feather was in your hair.

"Maui..." you whispered, and Maui looked at you, before taking off into the night sky. Fresh tears fell and you lay on the ground, curled around the remnants of the needle in the sand.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your brother is the MVP.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was gonna be one chapter but it became super long, so there will be two updates tonight!
> 
> Points if u can spot the very small Hamilton ref

You lay there for a while until your tears had dried up. Then, when you had the energy, you forced yourself upright and started on the journey back home. It seemed to take a lot longer to get back than it had to get here. Probably because you knew that Maui wouldn't be waiting for you at the end of it.

A gloomy thought crossed your mind as you wondered if that would be the last you’d ever see of him. There was no doubting now that he was a demigod. He had transformed into a hawk in front of you. You’d heard tales of gods changing their physical appearance – like Te Fiti who had turned herself into great island in order to slumber for centuries – but you could never have dreamed that you would be face-to-face with it.

You’d spent so much time doubting that he was a demigod and now you’d witnessed the proof that he was. And he'd disappeared before you could properly comprehend it. Before you could apologise for being so abrasive to him. Before he could give you that lazy smile and raise an eyebrow whilst telling you how you could make it up to him.

You cuffed away some fresh tears using the back of your hand as you headed towards the central fire pit of your village. What was the point in thinking about it? You were suddenly very aware of how tired you’d become, and slumped down as quietly as you could next to Hi’ilei. Your cousin stirred and squinted at you.

“Was’sup?” she asked, blearily trying to focus on you. You rustled her hair, smoothing out the tangles with your fingers.

“Nothing. Had a nightmare, that's all,” you whispered. She felt about a bit until she found your hand and gave it a squeeze, and in a croaky voice she began to hum an old song that you’d known as children as a sort of lullaby. You curled up in a ball and let yourself drift off.

A good night’s sleep could work wonders. At least when you woke up for a few blurry moments you couldn't remember the events of the night before.

But those few blurry moments passed and then you remembered where you were. What had happened. You sat up, still exhausted, as the sun’s early rays fell across your village. The girls around you began to stir as well, but you quickly made your way away from them. You knew Hi’ilei would want to talk to you, and you didn't know how much longer you could keep lying to her. So the best way to avoid that situation was to avoid _her_.

So you threw yourself into work. You set about hacking open coconuts and handing them out, and when that was done you started threading straw into thatches for the roofs of the unfinished huts. You kept to the side of the main construction and worked diligently and quickly. Luck was in your favour because nobody came along and bothered you. Maybe everyone had caught the sense that you wanted to be left alone.

Well, almost everyone.

“Talk,” said Aleki, poking you in the shoulder with his foot. You dropped your work in surprise and your brother took a seat next to you, handing you a dish full of whatever had been made for dinner that night. You hadn't realised how hungry you’d become and took the offering eagerly.

"I'm not gonna talk if you kick me," you said between bites.

"That wasn't kicking. You wanna see kicking?" taunted Aleki.

"If you dare I will pour this all over your head." It wouldn't be the first time either.  
He managed to bring a smile out of you though.

"Look. I, uh. I know we don't talk so much any more. And maybe that's my fault..."

"Oh, Aleki, no..." you began, but he shoved his hand in your face to childishly shut you up.

"I know what you're gonna say. You're gonna do your whole 'but you're chief of the tribe you have other responsibilities' and I'm gonna say 'yeah but you're my family you're important to me too' and we'll hug and cry and our familial bond will be renewed but, can we just skip all that? Because we've done it before."

He was right. When he'd taken over your mother's position as leader of the village at seventeen it had been a conversation you'd gone through the motions of at least once a year. So you kept your mouth shut so your brother could keep going.

"Maybe we don't need to talk as much. Maybe we're grown up enough to just know we're there for each other. But I just want to remind you that, you know. I am. Because I'm your brother and everything. I think you've been having a hard time recently. So if you wanna take a couple of days to yourself, I'll understand."

You felt a choking feeling in your throat and nodded.

"And about our mother's tattooing needle..."

And there your heart skipped a beat. Did Aleki know? How?

"I found it, if that's part of what you  
were worrying about. It was hanging on a tree where you were doing tattoos yesterday. I guess one of the children decided that they wanted to borrow it without telling you."

He held out your needle to you. And it was your needle. Completely in tact, as if it had never been broken at all. You held it in the palm of your hand.  
  
"Thanks," you said, amazed. Aleki got to his feet and stretched.

"Uh, hey, Aleki?"

"Yes?"

"Maybe I will take a bit of time for myself. Do some soul searching," you said, running the needle over in your hands.

"Whatever you need. You got us here, after all. Take a break," your brother said.  
  
That was how you found yourself winding the needle around your neck on a tight piece of twine to make sure it wouldn't fall off, taking some food, a rolled up sleeping mat, and a change of clothes, and heading away from your village in the setting sunlight.

You _could_ have trekked round the island, exploring your new home. You _could_ have spent some days in solitude.

But you didn't want solitude.

Maui wasn't there, but you did think that he would be. So instead you sat on the sand and began to unpack, taking in the ocean and the way that the orange light shimmered off the tide. You could feel him watching you. It was time to swallow the pride that you should have swallowed a long time ago.  
  
"Maui," you called out. "Can I talk to you?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your make up leads to something a bit more hot and heavy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing too explicit yet..... but there will be.
> 
> also making intertexual references from the film... look at me go

Nothing happened for a moment. Oh no, you thought, don't tell me he pushed him away, don't tell me he's left and it's too late...

A light thud behind you and a small spray of sand dusted past. Neither of you said anything for a moment.

"Is it... the same needle?" you asked. His deep voice answered, more solemn than your heard before.

"Yes."

You turned to him. The sunlight shone off his skin and it made him glow. He did look god-like like this. But you preferred him how he usually was. Goofy, irritating.

Perfect.

"Thank you." There was so much more that you wanted to say, but you couldn't find the words. Instead you held out your hand to him. He seemed unsure for a moment but then took it and sat down next to you. His hand absolutely dwarfed yours, but he was so careful.

"You're welcome," he said, and it didn't sound like he was boasting for once. He met your gaze and the smile he gave you melted your heart. You'd never felt like this before, and the realisation of it washed over you all at once.

A moment of something buzzed between the two of you, and when you both realised you were still holding hands, you quickly separated.

"Not that it was a big deal," he said, back to his usually self. "I just had to shrink down to being a bug and find every single piece of it and then stick it back together. Then fly it to your village and leave it somewhere someone would find. Not like it took me hours and hours."

You noticed his bloodshot eyes as he wolfed down the food you had brought with you. He hadn't bothered to ask if he could have any but you felt you were at a level of comfort where that was fine.

"I didn't think demigods got tired."

It was the first time you'd addressed him as such and he clearly took notice, pulling himself up a little bit straighter.  
  
"Ch'yeah, well. It isn't every day a demigod meets someone so tiring." He winked at you. You couldn't even hide your blush, but reached out and shoved him playfully.

"So... demigod, huh?" it was as nonchalant as you could muster. "How did that come about?"

He stopped chewing for a couple of seconds. You wondered if maybe you had asked a question that was best left alone.

"Sorry. Don't worry. I didn't mean to-"

"I'll tell you my tragic family backstory if you tell me yours," he said, quietly, not looking up. He sounded like he was joking but his heart wasn't in it. Was this progress in your relationship? Part of you wondered if this could be considered a relationship - but you tried to concentrate on the matter at hand.

The story of your parents was hardly a secret. You fiddled with your necklace, took in a deep breath, and got it all out as quickly as you could.

"My mother was chief before my brother. She and my father drowned one night when they sailed out to try and get us some fish. It had been a poor catch for a few weeks and we were starving. A couple of days passed and their net washed up, and it was full of fish that were _somehow_ still alive, but it also had a piece of their sail wrapped in it too. So they saved us. But they died for it."

You kept your voice level for it all but it was difficult. "The needle was the only thing she left at camp that meant anything which she hadn't taken with her. She gave my father a tattoo on their wedding day with it. I use it to do my tattoos too. I suppose it's like a part of her I can carry with me."

Maui took all this in silently, listening to every word. Then slowly he turned his back to you. You wondered if you had upset him when Maui pulled his hair over his shoulder, and you saw a tattoo you hadn't noticed before. On the top of his back there was a mural of a woman casting a baby into the sea.  
  
"Mine... uh. My parents didn't want me. Threw me into the sea to die when I was a baby. But the gods found me and had mercy and they made me into this," he said, gesturing to himself and the hook beside him.

Your hand went out to him for the second time that day. You run your fingertips over his marked skin, over the tiny tattooed baby, and the terrible image of a tiny child, Maui, _your_ Maui, being thrown to its death flooded your mind.  

"Maui..."

You felt him shudder at your touch. You placed your other hand on his back as well, and you felt the solid mass of his muscles. You covered up the woman and the baby with your palms so you couldn't see them any longer.

"That is not who you are," you said, your voice so quiet it was almost blocked by the sound of the waves. "They are not who you are. Even this," you gestured to the hook in front of the both of you, slipping your hands over his shoulders to do so, "is not who you are. You know who you are. You are the only person who gets to decide that."

You didn't mean to. It was as if you had lost control of your body. But you found yourself dropping your lips to his skin and kissing him over his tattoo.

His whole body rose up in goosebumps, and he let out a tiny " _ah_ ". You had no idea that you would have such an effect on him, and suddenly your mouth was on him again, kissing up his neck. You felt his heavy breathing under you. Your palm slipped over to feel his chest, running over the dip of his collarbone. He was pure muscle, every inch of him.

His hand came up to your arm, and before you could even realise, he had tugged you over his shoulder and you had landed in his lap. It was all a blur, and reminded you of how strong he was. But when he took your face in his hands he was so careful.

When he kissed you, though, he was anything but gentle. His lips were rough and chapped and they scraped against yours in a sensation you had never felt before, lighting that feeling back in the pit of your stomach. You wrapped your arms around his thick neck and leant into his kiss. Maui's hands slid round your side and up your back, gently twisting locks of your hair around his fingers, not pulling but using enough strength to let you know what he was doing. You sunk lower into his lap, his strong thighs either side of you, and he closed them against you so you were almost trapped in his embrace.

You pressed yourself up against him so you were as close as you could be, breasts to chest. His arms tightened and he tried to hold you even _closer_. His skin was hot and flushed and every touch you gave him was like a sensory overload - his breathing was hoarse and heavy and you were sure yours was too. His mouth opened and instinctively you did the same, feeling your teeth clack together as your embrace intensified. You felt something hot and wet against your bottom lip and then you realised that it was his tongue, and tentatively you reached out your own to reciprocate. He tasted of coconuts which only encouraged you to kiss him with more fervour.

You felt yourself moving backwards slowly, and soon you were on your back. Your hair fanned out over the sand and Maui gently brought himself down over you, not using down his full weight. A giant arm was pressed down into the sand next your head so he could steady himself, and his other hand went under the small of your back to gently lift you up towards him. His thick curls fell down and gently kissed your face as well. You were so aware of how simply _around_ you he was, how every sense was just _Maui, Maui, Maui._  
  
You had no idea how long you had been there, just kissing him as the sun set. But eventually you broke off for breath, and your lips were swollen and heavy and desperately missed his. You opened your eyes - not realising that they had been closed - and stared into those beautiful dark eyes of his, now mostly full-blown pupil. You looked at each other, not quite knowing how to continue.

Then you began to giggle.

You covered your eyes with your hands, suddenly bashful. This was the most intimate you'd ever been with a man and suddenly you didn't know what to do. There was nobody you'd rather experience this with, but you were suddenly so flustered now you were face to face with Maui.

From above you you heard Maui begin to laugh too. It started gently but soon turned into a deep chuckle, rich and lovely.  
  
"Sorry!" you squeaked, pushing your hands harder into your face.

"Don't be sorry. Was... that okay?" he asked. You peeked though gaps in your fingers to look at him and nodded.

"Yes. It was, um. Really nice," you replied. "Was it for you? Nice, I mean?"

Maui laughed again and run one huge finger the length of your face. It was the sort of tender gesture you didn't expect from such an imposing man.

"Yeah. It really was," he said, and gently leant his forehead against yours. "I uh, don't want to make you do anything you don't wanna do. So if you ever want to tell me to stop that's fine. Just say and I will."

You nodded, and thanked whatever gods were looking down on you that you had found such a man. No, demigod.  
  
"Can we maybe just... lay here for a bit?" you asked. Maui smiled and moved so he was on his side next to you.

"Of course."

He let out a soft laugh and kissed you quickly. And then again. And again.

"Maui!" you giggled.

"Sorry. You're just nice to kiss is all."

There you lay, pressed against him, your face buried in his chest, and all the exhaustion from these past few days took over.

You were aware at some point being picked up and carried into the trees where there was some more protection, being laid down on the sleeping mat, and Maui curling himself around you, his hand keeping you against him, guarding you.

"Maui," you managed, drowsily.

"Mm?" he asked from behind you.

"When you were a hawk... did you mean to push your face into my chest?"

There was a silence. A very loud, very fake snore rumbled across the space. You elbowed Maui in the stomach, being met by a brick of muscle.

"Hey! Okay, I'm sorry about that," he muttered. You rolled your eyes.

"You should be," you muttered, but you were aware of the smile on your face as you fell asleep, protected by a demigod.

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

Usually when you woke up you wouldn't lie around, instead choosing to make the most of the day by getting up and to work as quickly as you could.

But this time as your eyelids fluttered open you remembered the events of the night before, and shut them again. Maui's arm was still wrapped around you, holding you to his broad chest. You could feel him rest his chin on the top of your head - only a credit to the size of him. You twisted your arms around his and nuzzled your face sleepily into his huge palm.

This... this was a different type of intimacy. Last night had been liquid heat, wild and passionate but yet to be tamed, yet to be worked out. This was soft and warm and comfortable. And perfect.

Inimitably perfect.

  
Maui let out a little snore and buried himself into your hair, some of his own falling into your face as he went. You tried to subdue the little sigh you wanted to let out at the feeling of his breathing on your neck. It was impossibly lovely.

You gently shuffled even further into his embrace, and as you did, you became quite aware that you were not the only one who had... _risen_.

A very prominent blush crept over your face, but you made no effort to move away from him. You didn't know what to do. You knew this kind of thing happened, not that you'd ever been acquainted with it before. You felt the overwhelming urge to start giggling again, not because you didn't like it, but because you didn't know what else to do. The combination of hair and touching and, ahem, _him_ , was giving you a sensory overload. A tingling hotness began to creep over your body, going up along your spine from your stomach, and more importantly down between your legs. You squirmed a little, hugging your thighs together tight.

Maui moved behind you, stirring, stretching himself out a little bit without letting go of you. You felt him grow a little bit harder as he pressed himself into your ass.  
  
" _Ahh_ ," an involuntary gasp left your lips. It was enough to nudge Maui over the edge into being awake enough to realise what was going on.

"Hey," he muttered, planting a kiss on your ear. His curl tickled your nose and it made you let out a tiny unexpected sneeze, pushing yourself back into him.

"Oh, uh, sorry about that," he said, chuckling awkwardly a little, becoming aware of how hard he was against you. "Let me turn over and..."

"Wait," you said, holding his arm to keep him where he was and instead rolling round to face him. You met his gaze. His eyes were heavy-lidded, still in the throes of sleep. He looked gently puzzled.

"I could... help."

You reached out your hand, hesitated, and then palmed his hardness over his clothes. His reaction was instant. His eyes rolled back in his head and he sighed, and you felt his member firm up at your contact. But he grabbed your hand as you started to rub it upwards.

"I told you, don't do anything you don't want to," he said, and from the furrow in his brow you knew he was saying this out of his caring for you, because by the look on his face he seemed like he was happy for you to just keep doing what you were doing. "Don't do this just because you think I want it."

You bit your lip and gently removed your hand from his grasp.

"But I want it," you replied. And you did. Maybe it was the feeling of groggy fluff filling your head where it was hard to think coherently in the morning, or perhaps it was the fact that all of your senses were just overwhelmed with this man. But either way you did want it.

You wanted him.

Maui considered this for a moment, and then nodded. One giant hand came up to your shoulder and he pushed you so you were lying down. His lips met yours again, plump and softer than the day before. He caught your bottom lip between his and very gently you felt him press his teeth to it. You could feel the gap in his front teeth, that adorable little thing about him that made him just a bit more human. You opened your mouth and darted your tongue out. He seemed a little surprised by your forwardness but opened his mouth to let you take the lead. You pushed your tongue gently against his, tasting him, and feeling yourself begin to get wet.

Maui's hand slid round your thigh and moved you so that he could be settled between your legs. He was a big guy but it was easy enough to wrap your legs around his, running your foot up and down one of his calves to feel the muscle there.

His waist was positioned against yours, and you could feel his hardness through his lavalava. He very gently ground into you and you could feel his dick you push up against the apex of your legs.

You would have very well let him have you right there, on that sleeping mat, surrounded by the grass and the sand and the sky.

But life had different plans. So it goes.

Your heard your name being called, loud and clear. Your kiss was broken off and you and Maui looked at each other in surprised horror. The sound of footsteps on sand got closer. Maui reached out and snatched up his hook, turning into a tiny lizard and scuttling away into the underbrush. You flipped onto your front and feigned sleep.

  
Your name was called again, nearer, and then a little "ah!" as if to denote a "there you are."

You opened your eyes to see Hi'ilei standing over you, grinning widely.  
  
"Hi'ilei?" you asked, adding a hoarseness to your voice. Your cousin smiled and sat down next to you.

"Surprise!" she exclaimed. A surprised silence and then;

"Yeah, uh. Sorry. I uh, I know you said to Aleki you were going off for a while but I figured, you know, maybe we could spend some time together? You've been so distant since we came to this island. I don't know what the matter is but I've missed you," she said quietly.

You cursed whatever gods that were listening for having such a devoted cousin, and then took it back. You loved Hi'ilei with all your heart.

"How did you find me?" you asked, genuinely puzzled.

"I followed your tracks. You aren't hard to follow," she laughed.

Damn. You'd have to be more careful next time.

"Looks like my little cousin doesn't need any more wayfinding lessons," you said, reflecting on the art you'd been teaching her. Hi'ilei looked horrified.

"No! Of course I do! I mean, I still can't find an entire island on my own like you can!" she said, gesticulating wildly, hair flying around. Sweet girl, she did make you laugh. You happiness was matched only by the relief that the only footprints in the sand were your own, and Maui seemed to have covered his own tracks.

You took her waving hands and placed them calmly back in her lap.

"Hi'ilei, I'm at a very... strange point in my life at the moment. I'm working some things out for myself about who I am and what I want. And I love you but... for the moment, this is an adventure I need to go to on my own," you said. And it was true. To an extent.  
  
Hi'ilei looked disappointed. You could only imagine. She had probably hoped that this would be an opportunity to spend time with you, to have a journey. You lifted her chin up and booped her nose.

"Give me a couple of days. That's enough. I promise I'll be able to talk to you about things then. And we'll go wayfinding, I promise," you said. Hi'ilei considered this for a moment and then nodded, a smile returning to her face.

"You better! Or I'll put a sea urchin in your bed," she said and you laughed, knowing it wouldn't be past her.

"Do you need me to help you find your way back to the village?"

"No, I'll be fine. Take care of yourself."

You hugged your cousin goodbye and watched her walk off along the seafront, before letting out a long sigh when she was out of sight.

"Okay, she's gone," you announced. Maui landed in the sand next to you.  
  
"Wow, your family has the most impeccable sense of timing," he said, and you felt horribly embarrassed about the whole ordeal. You wondered if you could reinstigate your previous activities, but the mood was gone. Maui seemed to sense this change in your temperament.

"Hey so, I heard you tell her something about an adventure. How'd you feel about making that a reality?"

Something in his tone caught your attention. You turned to him and there he was, raising an eyebrow, a look of mischief on his face.

"I mean... what did you have in mind?" you asked, cautiously.

Maui grinned.

"Ever heard of the realm of monsters?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Hi'ilei for being the worst (best?) cockblock ever 
> 
> Also, we're approaching smut chapters. Toying with the idea of making both Maui and the reader virgins, your thoughts guys? :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adventure is out there!

A buzz of electricity run through you.   
"Lalotai?" you asked, nearly breathless. Maui nodded eagerly.

"I mean it doesn't exactly sound..." part of you wanted to say 'romantic' but you settled on "...safe."

"What's an adventure if it's safe?" laughed Maui. "Besides. You're protected by the great Maui. You'll be fine."

Mini Maui sprang into action, a tirade of tattoo monsters leaping at him, all of which he batted away with his fishhook before flexing heroically. You giggled.

"Is this just an ego trip for you to show me how strong you are?" you asked.

"Ch'uh, no," said Maui, but mini Maui was grinning and nodding enthusiastically. Maui flicked him and he shut up. "Look, come on. It's a great idea! You go, we mess around, maybe defeat a monster, take some treasure, you go back to your people a hero, everybody is so in awe that nobody ends up questioning your soul-searching vacation weird spell. I'm not saying I'm a genius, but..."

It seemed a bit of a convoluted plan, but for some reason you found yourself nodding along.

"Surely you mean _we_ come back heroes?" you asked.

"Okay, first, I'm _already_ a hero. Let's get that squared away. Second, as much as I love basking in the adoration of mortals I feel that maybe this is something you need to get sorted for yourself before I come in to the picture."

It was a surprisingly astute judgement from a man who clearly liked to have people fawn over him. You shrugged and nodded.

"Sure. Okay. Let's do it. It's crazy but everything about these last few days has been crazy," you said. "Have you got a boat?"

Maui began to nod and then froze.

"Uh... no. I flew here."

"Well let me deal with that. I can borrow a canoe. Nobody will miss it," the last part was more a justification to yourself. You were aware that the fleet had been moved into a small island-locked lagoon, where they were out of the way of the village preparations. "As long as we keep a wide berth around the village they won't notice us."

Maui nodded in agreement, and then with a straight face added, "I mean, seeing as you know the way, and you're lighter on your feet, it would probably made more sense for you to carry me."

"What?! No! How would I even..." you began, but with a wave of his hook Maui shrunk down into a tiny iridescent insect and landed on your shoulder.

"Well you could have said that," you grumbled, starting the trek back towards your village.

Clearly everyone was still busy building, for though you heard the sounds of people, nobody had come out to the boats. They were unguarded, some bobbing on the water, some beaches next to it. Maui leapt off your shoulder, back into a human.

"Which one do you want?" he asked, walking round the impromptu shipyard, running his hand over their sails. You looked to the biggest one, the one you had led your people to this island on. But it seemed a bit big seeing as it would just be the two of you.

  
 _Just the two of you_ , the thought echoed in your mind as you looked over to where Maui had hopped on a ship and was testing out the sails.

Just the two of you on open water where anything could happen. And there it was again, that spark down your spine. You licked your lips and turned away hurriedly.

"How about this one?" you asked, pointing to a small canoe, big enough for the two of you.

"Good choice," Maui agreed. You barely had to say anything else before Maui snatched up the boat in one hand and tucked you under his arm with the other.

"Mau- _eee_!" you screeched as you suddenly found yourself being carried back the way you had came, towards the ocean, impossibly fast. You covered your face with your hands until it was over, feeling a little dizzy.

"Whoa, you ok?" asked Maui, planting your feet firmly in the sand as he lowered the boat to the water.

"Give me some warning if you're gonna do that again," you said, boarding the ship and leaning against the mast for support. "In fact, just don't do it. Ever. At all."

"Sorry," said Maui in a tone that seemed to denote he wasn't sorry at all, "sorry that I'm excited to go and sail with my... you."

Hm. Yes, how was that sentence meant to end? "With my lover"? Well, not yet, at least. "With my girlfriend"? Wasn't that getting ahead of yourselves a bit?

Then again, you considered, nothing about this was normal, so maybe it was alright to go about exploring new terms.

"Alright, demigod," you said, taking your place at the bow of the ship like a captain, "which way are we heading?"

Maui went to take the sheet, but you snatched it from him before he could touch it, and grinned. He raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, wayfinder," he mimicked your tone annoyingly well, "North, where the currents get warm and the skies get dark."

"Let's go," you said, unfolding the sail. Maui jumped off the boat and, keeping his hands tightly on the side, he ran along and pushed it into the water. You squeaked and held on tight and when you were cast off, Maui jumped on board.

He looked at you, took in a deep breath, and then let out an almighty gust of air from his lungs. It was as if he had swallowed the wind itself. You could only watch in amazement as it filled your sails and threw you out into the open sea, moving so fast that water splashed up wildly in a spray. Before you knew it, your island was suddenly on the horizon.

"How... how did you...?" you asked. Maui moved so that he was standing behind you, his chest brushing against your back, and moulded his hands round yours, guiding your movements as you tied a knot to keep the sail in place.

"Being a demigod of the wind and sea has its perks," he said, "especially when it comes to sailing."

"So it would seem," you hummed, leaning back into his embrace, "you don't need to show me what to do, you know."

He stopped gripping the rope and started instead caressing your hands.

"Yeah, I know."

"Well then," you muttered, moving so you could face him a little better, "sit down and let me do my thing."

At that moment your hand snatched out, undid a knot, and the force of the boat's jolting sent Maui tumbling back onto his butt. He looked sort of surprised, but it wasn't a patch on his face when you reached a leg up pushed against his shoulder with your bare foot, like he was something you'd conquered. His mouth fell open in a little "o" shape, and he was so flustered he couldn't even think of a comeback. You smiled at the way you took away his ability to talk. There was something pleasing not only to show him what an accomplished wayfinder you were, but also to be so... dominant.

The, _ahem_ , effect you could clearly see you were having on him helped too. Score one to you.

You moved back to where you were, taking lead of the ship, leaving Maui to stare at your back. You stood as jauntily as you could.

"North, where the currents get warm and the skies get dark. Lalotai here we come."

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short and fluffy one for you tonight. Smut will probably begin in a couple of chapters.

"I can take over you know," Maui called, lazily dipping his hand in the water. "Not that I'm complaining about the view, though."

He was still sitting down, leaning against the mast, staring at your back side.

"Stay down demigod," you replied, redoing your bun for maybe the fifth time. It was a habit you had when you concentrated, something to keep your hands busy whilst your mind worked. You kept control of the oar with your foot as you studied the sky. It wasn't night quite yet but the stars were beginning to show, meaning finding north was going to be a lot easier just by sight. That would be nice. You were getting exhausted.

"Can do," he chuckled. You swung your hips in the way you and Hi'ilei had practised, the way that made all the boys start looking at you and miss the coconuts being thrown down to them.

"But also, I mean, watch yourself. If you keep being like that you'll make me accidentally whip up a tsunami or something," Maui almost growled. You hid your blush.

"Oh, just what I'd need," you joked, "two forces of nature at once. Anyway, you're meant to be keeping me entertained. So keep entertaining."

For the duration of your journey, Maui had been keeping you busy with the stories of how he got his tattoos. As much as you hated to admit it they were quite impressive tales, especially compared to the stories you'd been telling him in response. What you got from it was that Maui... really liked humans. And he liked humans to think he was brilliant and brave. Which you did think he was, but you didn't want to rub his ego any more than absolutely necessary.

"Come on, it's your turn. Give me a break from talking," said Maui.

"Wow, you taking a break from talking? Must be your worst nightmare." You sidestepped the water Maui splashed at you. "I don't know. I can't think of anything I haven't told you."

Your existence had been pretty quiet compared to that of a centuries old demigod, and during this voyage you'd pretty much exhausted your supply of stories from... your whole life.

"Well then tell me some of them again," he laughed. "Okay, what about your tattoo?"

"The conch?"

"No, the one on your hand."

"Oh," you said. It was such a constant that you sort of forgot it existed, a hoop round your wrist and up your middle finger with a tiny turtle insignia. "Yeah. Me and my brother both got similar ones. Our parents had ones like them too."

"Your brother," said Maui, "tell me about him. What's he like?"

"He's... protective," you decided after considering it for a moment. "But he's a good man. And a great chief." You paused again but Maui didn't speak, and you took this as an encouragement to keep going. "We didn't always get along. When we were kids, you know. But that's because I was a new baby and he was the only child before me. We got closer as we got older. And we caused a load of trouble together for the village. Our favourite game was picking up crabs from the beach and seeing how far we could throw them into the sea - I mean, we stopped doing it when our mother told us it was a horrible thing to do - and he won every time and I was so bitter."  
You smiled to yourself at the memory.

"That was years and years ago though. We've both grown up since then."

"Sure you have," chuckled Maui, and you kicked some water back at him. "Mind out for crabs though. There are a lot of crab monsters in Lalotai."

"I'll be fine. Remember, I've got Maui, the great demigod of the wind and sea to protect me," you said. You knew mini Maui was nodding in agreement even without turning round to look at him.

With your palm on the top of the oar you rested your chin on the back of your hands and relaxed, stifling a little yawn. Your little canoe bobbed gently. The sea wasn't choppy today, and it was very hard to keep your eyes open. You began to hum to yourself, the little song you and your cousin liked to sing.

"I was there when they came up with that song, y'know."

"No kidding?"

"No kidding. But when it was first done, it went a little bit more like..."

Quite gently Maui began to sing, getting louder as he became more confident. You stopped staring out to sea and instead turned round and looked at where he was, leaning back against the mast, eyes shut. He looked so... normal. So content. He was so gorgeous when he was like this, not trying to put on any bravado. Just... being a person.  
  
You felt so safe with him here. He so implicitly had your trust that you had sailed off with him without a second thought. You found yourself smiling.

"You've got a lovely voice," you said once he'd finished. He gave you a cocky smile.

"I do my best for my fans," he replied. You let your own eyes shut now as you kept singing to yourself, and without realising it soon nodded off.

You awoke on the the floor of the ship, and Maui was not there. You sat up, panicked, and became aware that your sailing partner was in fact up the mast, standing at the top of it to get a better view of the horizon. You couldn't guess how long you'd been asleep for but it seemed the sun was rising now, and in the half-light as you looked up you got a really good glimpse of Maui. You could see his tattoos run all the way up his legs, at least up to to where his loincloth covered. You quickly looked away, embarrassed.

"Morning," he called down, sliding down to your level.

"I told you, you didn't have to take over," you huffed.

"Oh you were dead on your feet. If I hadn't have done it you'd have fallen into the ocean."

"Well maybe I _wanted_ to fall into the ocean," you said, childishly. Maui raised an eyebrow and lunges for you, gathering you up in his arms.

"You wanna fall in the ocean, huh? Well in you go!" he said, and began to take a run up as if he was going to throw you. You squeaked and batted your legs and arms.

"Maui no! Stop!" you giggled. At the edge of the canoe he stopped, comically pretending to almost trip over into the water. Your squealed and buried your face into his neck.  
  
"What's that, mighty ocean? You don't want this sacrifice? She's too giggly? Well, I guess I'll keep her then," he said, loudly and playfully. You beat his chest gently as if telling him to stop, and then looked up at him. He was looking back, a tenderness on his face that left him completely unguarded. He was looking at you like you were the most precious treasure in the world.

You reached up and caught his lips, hands going round his neck. He kissed you back, gently now, softly, as if this moment might be a dream.

It almost was. A shadow fell over the two of you, causing you both to tear your gazes upwards. In front, blocking the sun, was a huge spindly mountain. It was impossibly tall, you almost couldn't see the top. You gawped.

"Is that..."

"We're here," said Maui, gently putting you down on your feet. The two of you began to bring in the boat towards it.

"Good thing I woke up. Sun rises in the east, and if we were heading north we could have gone right past it," you called.

"Don't pride yourself, wayfinder," he chided, but there was no malice in it. Soon you had landed on terra firma. Hundreds of tiny stones made up the beach, not the soft sand you were used to. Maui tied the boat to small jutting rock formation to keep it in place, before grabbing his hook.

"I'll fly us up there. Get on," he said, turning so his back was facing you. You didn't need to be told twice, clambering onto him. You didn't even have much time to take in those beautiful muscles of him before sudden Maui had struck his hook on the ground and, as the giant hawk you had come to know, took to the air and began to fly up into the clouds. Up to Lalotai.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sort of familiar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short one I'm afraid, but I'm trying to stick to my one chapter a day schedule!

You hid your face in the place where his wing met his shoulder. You didn't necessarily consider yourself afraid of heights, but then again you had never scaled them being on the back of a giant demigod bird. You felt more comfortable nuzzling into Maui's feathers and trying not to think about it too hard.

Soon you felt yourself come to a standstill, and felt Maui shift underneath you, becoming enveloped in strong arms. You looked up and there he was, human again, smiling down at you, a little amused.

"You doing alright?" he asked. You nodded and tried to compose yourself.

"Uh, yeah. Fine," you managed, straightening your skirt. You looked around. There was nothing at the top of this mountain, save dust and rocks. You turned to Maui.

"This... is Lalotai?" you asked.

"No," said Maui. He took in a deep breath and, much like when he cast off your canoe, and blew all the dust off the top of the mountain. You had to cover your eyes to stop yourself being blinded, but when you looked again the flat floor had suddenly been revealed to have a huge carving, a great fierce stone face.

" _This_ is Lalotai," Maui said, positioning himself in the middle of it. He let out a mighty roar, making you jump out of your skin. But instead of apologising he began to stomp on the ground, rhythmically, and it took you a second to realise he was doing a haka. You knew better than to interrupt so you merely watched until he had finished. Beating his arm, muscles flexing in the sun, tattoos rippling.

There was a rumbling and, at the mouth, Lalotai began to open at the mouth. Maui grinned at you, and you shook yourself from your trance.

"What's the matter?" he asked, then raised an eyebrow. "Oh I'm sorry, did that work for you?"

"No!" you objected, but you imagined that if you had a mini-you tattoo like Maui did that she would be nodding emphatically. _Yes. It did work for me._

Maui reached out out to you, and you took his hand. He pulled you into him roughly and you squeaked - you had been doing a lot of squeaking lately - holding you tight against his chest. You looked down into the open stone mouth, and felt sick. It was hundreds of feet deep, turning into a swirling abyss which you couldn't see the bottom of.

"Maui, are we- _eeeeee_!"

You'd been doing a lot of that as well.

Maui jumped.

You thought the flight up was bad.

The fall just kept going. At some point you realised that you had been screaming the entire way down and so, once again, you found yourself burying your face in the crook of his neck, trying to concentrate on the way that he dominated your sense rather than the way you were falling hundreds and hundreds of feet. Your screams turned into pants, and you realised your breathing was too quick, and you were beginning to panic.  
  
There was a resounding thud and then no more falling, but there was Maui holding you even tighter.

"Hey, you're fine, it's over," he said, and laughed, gently resting his forehead against yours. You concentrated on slowing your breaths until you were fine once again.

"You couldn't have warned me first?" you asked, mock-annoyed, but your heart wasn't in it.

"Eh, you'd have just freaked out. But don't worry, we're here now!" he announced, putting you down once again and flinging out his arms.

You went to look around, and it was yet again another mistake on this long day of mistakes.

This place was terrifying. Everything was either glowing or in shadows. And out the corner of your eye it seemed that nothing was standing still, but when you turned your head to look it had stopped.

"What in the name of Te Fiti..." you cursed under your breath.

"Ah, it's all mostly for show. Just ignore most of them and they'll leave you alone."

A giant, monstrous fish flew at Maui from behind a plant. Maui grabbed it from the air, tied it into a knot, and threw it to the side.

"Most of them," he reiterated. You were having doubts about this all but... it was an adventure. "Anyway, I had a place in mind if you want me to lead the way?"

"You've been here before?!"

"Of course. It's a fun way to blow off some steam. You come down, fight a few monsters, go back up again... it's like a vacation. Anyway, come on. And mind out for the crabs."

You stuck like glue to Maui as you travelled through. This place was called the realm of monsters for a reason. They were everywhere. There were beasts here that you had seen vaguely depicted on decorative blankets, but in real life they were far more terrifying than the simple ink versions of themselves. There were other ones that you couldn't have even dreamed up in your worst nightmares, things that didn't bear reflecting on.

To be fair to Maui, though, most of them kept their distance. It was probably the huge hook he had swung over his shoulder that kept them at bay.

Well, the ones big enough to see.

"Ow!"

A tiny voice came from under your foot as you felt a sharp pain in your sole. You looked at where you had been standing, and there, submerged in the sand, was a tiny crab.

Apparently a _talking_ tiny crab. Of course.

"Oh no, sorry!" you gasped, bending down and unburying him, bringing him up in your palm.

"Don't touch that thing," said Maui. "It'll probably try and eat your thumbs."

"Oh look at him, he won't do anything, will he?" you cooed to the tiny crustacean. The crab was certainly sweet. He was no bigger than your hand, and had he biggest, most endearing eyes.

"I mean I would babe, but you're pretty so I'll give you a free pass. Not sure about your ugly friend over there," said the crab, and his shortness made you giggle. Maui seethed.

"You shouldn't be so rude to him, little friend."

"It's Tamatoa, babe. First name terms are fine. What are you doing down here anyway?"

"Actually," Maui interrupted, "we were here to... _look at_ your family's horde. Still as impressive as ever?"

"Of course. Big and shiny. If you're looking to steal from it you'll have no chance. Gramma is guarding it."

Maui sucked in breath through his teeth.   
"That's a problem. These things' gramma is nasty. Giant crabby old crab. Ah well," his attitude changed immediately, "I've been in the mood for a good fight. Let's go."

You found you didn't have much time to object as you and Tamatoa were ushered along by the demigod.

"So, if she's your gramma, and you're Tamatoa... does that make her... Grammatoa?"

You beamed. The crab and Maui looked at you, deadpan.

"I thought that was pretty good," you mumbled. Tamatoa patted your hand comfortingly with a tiny claw.

"There there babe. Comedy isn't everyone's forte." Something caught his eye, the bracelet of tiny shells you wore round your wrist. "Hey, that's nice. Can I have it?"

"What? Umm. My brother made me this," you said, quietly. Tamatoa gave what you thought was a shrug.

"So? I ate all my brothers. And sisters."

"Oh... good for you?"

"As great as this conversation is," hissed Maui, stopping dead, causing you to bump into him. "We're here."

You were at the mouth of a cave. You looked round into it, and all you saw was piles and piles of gleaming treasure, gold, gems, things you couldn't even place.

And at the centre of it all, a gigantic, sleeping crab.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is shiny.

" _That's_ your gramma?!" you asked Tamatoa. You wanted to shout but realised it was best to keep your voice down, so what you said came out in a hoarse whisper. She was enormous. A good hundred feet tall, and clearly old - her thick skin was covered in barnacles and algae. And atop her shell was what must have been tonnes of treasure of all kinds, gold, jewels, even what looked like a couple of statues.

"I mean, I don't see any other giant crabs around here, babe," replied Tamatoa.  
  
"It looks like she's asleep," Maui said, and you could hear the grin in his voice. "She's getting old. Come on."

He went to take your hand but you pulled away before little Tamatoa could be crushed.

"If I give you this, you won't tell her we were here, will you?" you asked, taking off the bracelet. There was a slight glint in Tamatoa's eyes as he considered.

"Come on, don't you want a horde like this? Gotta start somewhere," you reasoned.

"Alright, alright. You've convinced me."

You placed the bracelet on his shell. It fitted perfectly, resting atop him like some kind of decorative lining.

"You look very handsome," you said, putting him down on a rock.

"And shiny?" he probed. You laughed and nodded.

"And shiny," you agreed, and pecked him goodbye. Tamatoa looked incredibly smug afterwards, and stared at Maui, as if gloating, then scuttled away.

Maui glared after him, and it took you a second to realise what was wrong.

"Are you... jealous of that tiny crab?" you asked, stifling a laugh.

"Uh, no?" Maui replied, incredulously, but mini Maui was nodding. You rolled your eyes.

"He is three inches tall and a crustacean. You are not threatened." You went on your tiptoes and planted a kiss on Maui's cheek. He seemed to be satisfied.

"Alright, come on," he said, swooping a giant arm round you and leading you into the cave.

Though it should have been dark, a combination of bioluminescent algae and the amount of reflective treasure meant that it was easy enough to see where you were going. Nevertheless you clung to Maui as you made your way onwards. Grammatoa shifted in her sleep but otherwise remained peaceful.

"Take a look around," Maui encouraged. "If I can steal fire from demons to warm the humans then I can steal some treasure from this crab to make you look good to your family."

You weren't sure if he was justifying this to you or himself. Either way you tentatively began to inspect the giant piles of loot, squinting to avoid the way it gleaned in the light. Everything was pretty, but... it wasn't anything you particularly needed.

"You don't look impressed," Maui stated.

"No, no, I am! It's just... I don't know. Too much jewellery weighs you down. And gems look pretty but can they feed you or keep you warm..."

You trailed off. Something caught your eye.

  
As Grammatoa moved once again, you saw around her neck a string of pearls meeting in the middle to hold a tattooing needle.

It was a very fine instrument indeed. The handle seemed to be made of bone, intricately carved. As for the needle itself, you couldn't quite tell from this far away. But it was certainly shiny. You could see why Tamatoa liked these things so much.

Maui followed your gaze.

" _That_? You like _that_?"

"What?!" you asked, defensively.

"You already have a needle! At great expense to my tiny bug hands!"

"Well, I could have one from my parents and one from my... you."

Once again, how to end that sentence.

You could see Maui was only objecting for the hell of it but you were willing to play along. You leant your head on his massive bicep, coyly.

"Please, Maui, great demigod, hero to all."

Maui rolled his eyes theatrically.

"Fine. Because you asked so nicely."

Maui swung his hook where he had been settling it on his shoulder and transformed into a lizard, scuttling up to the sleeping crab. He clambered up her leg and onto her shell. Everything was going well.  
  
But Maui wouldn't be Maui without showing off. And he began to get cocky. He hooked his tail round one of her eye stalks and lazily dangled down over her face, stretching out to swat at the needle.

Grammatoa's breathing halted. You held your own breath until she let out a gentle snore. Maui gave you a cheeky wink and then snatched the needle from her neck.   
The pearl necklace which held it pulled taut, then shattered. Thousands of pearls fell to the floor in a thunder of rattling.

Grammatoa opened her eyes, and they settled on Maui, hanging off the side of her face.

There was an incredibly long silence.

"Heh heh," Maui laughed, awkwardly. "How ya doing?"

Grammatoa opened her mouth and screamed in anger.

" _What are you doing?!_ " she shrieked. Her voice was like nails on a chalkboard and you visibly winced. It was enough for her to train her eyes on you.

" _What is this?! A mortal?! What is this thing doing here?! Thief! Thief!"_

Maui jumped to the ground and turned back into his human form, hook in one hand, needle in the other.

"Leave her alone! It's me you want!" he shouted, beating his chest and letting out a war cry. It worked, because the crab turned to him and started to lurch towards him. Maui span round and threw you the needle. His throw was incredibly powerful and you had no chance to catch it. There was a _clink_! sound as it landed on a pile of treasure, which in turn toppled in a small avalanche.

  
Maui looked exasperated but had no time to say anything, seeing as there was a hundred foot crab after him. You left him to it and began to dig wildly through the pile.

Gold coin, gold bar, gold necklace... none of this was a needle, you wanted to screech the more you looked. You turned to check on Maui just to see him dive out the way of a huge claw, which came crushing down on the place he had just been, caving in a large ornate treasure chest. You turned away hurriedly and kept going.

"Babe?"

You turned to the side, where a tiny Tamatoa was holding out the needle to you, awkwardly, as it was much bigger than him. You snatched it from his claw and grasped your hands together.

  
"Thank you thank you thank you," you whispered, and booped him on the nose. "Farewell tiny crab."

  
You turned and waved to Maui.

He was currently being held down by one of Grammatoa's giant leg, the only thing protecting his chest his hook which he had wedged in the way.

"Hey! Crabcake!" you screamed. She turned to you, and you began to kick coins around whilst laughing wildly.

"Wow, isn't this all so shiny? Wouldn't it be a shame if I got all my mortal...ness all over it?"

You kicked harder and stubbed your toe painfully, but it worked. The crab sprinted towards you, face a portrait of fury. With all your might you used your foot to shunt out some of the discarded pearls from where they had settled, causing them to roll once more. Grammatoa's huge legs stepped on them and, with so many at once, she began to lose her balance. Maui saw the opportunity and ran to you, throwing you over his shoulder.

"Gotta fly! Nice seeing you again!" he shouted, turning into a giant hawk and taking to the air. The crab shrieked in anger and snapped her claw at you, but Maui had flown out of her reach by then. You flew up, and up, and up, until you hit the surface of the water that was suspended above you.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You make a pit stop on an island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the smut u filthy animals. I settled on making u both virgins but I hope that didn't take away from the smut... I wanted something gentle and tender to start with. Hope u enjoy!

There was an almighty splash as you surfaced. It appeared you had come out of the sea just off the beach of Lalotai, near your boat. You landed on the ground on your back as Maui returned to his human form.  
You were both breathless, but when you looked at each other, you began to laugh. You rolled into Maui's offered arm and leant against his chest.

"That was certainly... a day to remember," you chuckled. Maui nodded.

"Luckily your 'mortal...ness' saved us."

"You might laugh but it did!" you flicked his nose gently and Maui pretended to be hurt.

"Thank you," you said to him, gently, earnestly, clutching your needle against you. His smile was wide but he didn't seem to be gloating. Instead he just seemed... glad. Glad that you were happy.

"You're welcome," he replied. He narrowed his eyes suddenly and reached up to your hair. A giant finger brushed a stray curl away from your face and your heart skipped a beat, but when he withdrew his hand you saw why he had been looking so intently.

"What?!" you groaned, looking at the bioluminescent algae Maui's hand was now covered in. Your own hand shot up and checked your hair and you found your arm covered in luminous colours up to your forearm.

"Ah man. Are there any islands round here with fresh water? I should wash my hair. And my clothes," you muttered, noticing it had really got everywhere. Maui considered it and nodded.

"Yeah, I can think of a place."

You gathered yourselves on the boat and Maui cast you off, taking the lead on the sailing. You didn't mind too much. Instead you just sat back and watched him take the lead.

You began to doodle little designs in the place where the algae was thickest, planning out what tattoos you could give yourself with this new needle. But your attention kept being ripped away every time Maui moved.

It was getting to sunset - clearly you had been in Lalotai a while - and the dusk only highlighted his beauty. By the name of Te Fiti he was gorgeous. His arms were so strong but he was so careful and attentive when controlling the boat. So in touch with nature. A breeze blew his hair up to reveal the taut muscles on his back as well as that horrible, terrible tattoo. You shook your head of those thoughts. Those times would be behind him, you would make sure of that.

It wasn't long before you landed again. The island was small but lush with thick greenery everywhere. Maui jumped off the boat and offered you his hand so you could dismount.

"Come on, I'll show you the pond."

Holding your hand in his giant one he led you through the unruly grasses and flowers, knocking any stray branches out of your path. He led you to a small pool of fresh water, a small waterfall trickling down into it. Beautiful flowers bloomed around, some which you recognised, some you'd never seen before.

"Perfect!" you said, and took off your overskirt to dunk it in the crystal clear water, scrubbing the algae from it on a rock. You were intensely aware of Maui's eyes on you but when you turned to met his gaze he looked away, a bit flustered. Honestly this was probably the most he'd seen of you, even though your underskirt still kept your thighs covered.

"I'll, uh, go and get a fire started or something-" Maui began but you interrupted quickly.

"No. Wait," you said, holding up a hand. And he did. He paused as soon as you said it.

  
Who knows what gave you the courage to do what you did next, to say what you said. Maybe it was the fact the two of you were really, truly alone. Or perhaps it was the adrenaline from taking on a giant crab monster.

Or maybe, just maybe, it was because part of you had loved this man from the first day you saw him.

"You can stay," you voice was surprisingly controlled for how fast your heart was beating. "You can... watch."

You'd never seen the grin slapped off his face so quickly. It didn't return. Instead he just looked dumbstruck.

"If you want," you added. He nodded with fervour and took a seat on the floor, watching you, tentatively.

You got to your feet and spread your overskirt out over a tree branch to dry. Your heart was in your mouth. Oh gods, this was it. He was going to see you naked. What if he didn't like what he saw? What if... oh Te Fiti, what if he _laughed_?

You found yourself suddenly very self-conscious, biting your lip. But Maui spoke gently from where he was sat.

"You don't have to. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to. I lov..." he trailed off, instead replacing whatever he was going to say with, "I care about you. A whole lot. I don't want you to look back and think this was a mistake."

Tears welled up in your eyes and your heart was so full of... feelings... it was ready to burst.

"You could never be a mistake, Maui," you said, and you meant it. Everything about him was perfect. He was the only man you had ever felt this way for, and you knew he would be the only one for you.

Your hands went to your underskirt and undid the knot there, meaning you were standing in your small clothes and your top.

  
Deep breath. Steady hands.

You raised your arms and pulled your top off and threw it on the ground. At the cool of the air your nipples grew taut and perked. You quickly crossed your arms, suddenly incredibly embarrassed. You sneaked a look over at Maui.

The way he was looking at you... it was like he was seeing the stars for the first time. You had never seen such enrapture on someone's face. His eyes were trained on you intently, his mouth open just a bit, showing that adorable gap between his teeth. Something else was clearly stirring, judging by the bulge in his lavalava.

You dropped your arms letting your top half be nude, before shimmying out of your underwear and stepping into the fresh water.

  
It was cold but not unpleasantly so, and you waded in up to your waist, dunked your hair under, making sure it was completely soaked before resurfacing, flipping it back over your shoulders.

Algae swirled in the pond around you, and you felt a little bad dirtying it. You run the water up your arms, behind your neck, over your breasts, making yourself as clean as possible.

You turned to Maui. If he wasn't watching you intently before he certainly was now. You could see his chest rising and falling, pupils blown wide. He was clearly very turned on by this all. You flattened your hair down and cleared your throat.

"You, uh... wanna join me?"

It was meant to be sultry and seductive but it came out as a squeak and you hated yourself for it. But Maui, a little unsure of himself, nodded and got to his feet.

  
He approached the water and, like you, dropped his clothes, so he was just in a loincloth. Now you could see more of his body you could see that his tattoos really did run all the way up to his crotch. Not that much was really being hidden.

"Don't laugh," said Maui, and you felt mortified.

"Why would I laugh?" you asked. Was it just you or did he look embarrassed?

"I... my tattoos. I don't control where they go," was his explanation, and he let the last of his clothes fall to the floor.

You'd never seen a man naked before. You'd thought it would be worse, in some respects. He seemed rather beautiful. He was, well, large, which you felt less apprehension about than anticipated - he was a big man after all. His tattoos swirled all the way up his shaft, hidden only where the dark hair grew. Though he didn't look without confidence, he didn't meet your gaze for a moment as you let your eyes wash over him. When you did lock eyes you gave him a reassuring smile, and he slowly walked into the water with you. Tiny ripples came up and kissed your skin as he approached you. The two of you faced each other, and once again for a second nothing was said.

"Maui?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you... erm..." you cleared your throat. "Have you done this before?"

"Umm. I... no. I haven't."

That surprised you.

"Really? Surely there have been beautiful women throwing themselves at you all your life?" you asked. Maui grinned cockily, despite himself.

"Well, yeah. They have. But I didn't... feel this way about any of them. The way I feel about you. And so it just never seemed right, you know? Not like... this. Not like with you."  
It was probably the most earnest you'd ever seen him. And you let out a giant sigh of relief.

"Oh thank Te Fiti. I was so nervous! I didn't want to be some awkward... wriggly... thing because you knew everything already!"

"You don't mind?"

"Of course I don't. Maui, this is perfect. You're perfect. If I'm going to choose my first time with a man, it would be here, with you, exactly as you are." You paused. "You still do know what to do though...?"

Maui chuckled low in his throat and it went straight to the bottom of your stomach.

"Oh, of course," he muttered, and he took your arm and brought your hand to his face, kissing the pulse in your wrist. A shiver of excitement run up your arm from where his lips made contact, and he did it again, and again, each time further up. You breathing got quicker until his mouth hovered over your shoulder, and he took you in a kiss.

  
He pulled you towards him, gently. You could feel his hardness against your legs, and he was warm and solid. You let yourself relax into the kiss. It started out gentle, delicate, mouths just touching, and got deeper and more passionate. Your mouth opened and you pressed the tip of your tongue against his, as as it gently darted it to taste your bottom lip, you wondered what else his tongue might be able to do.

You felt his hand grace up the curve of your body, towards your chest. He hesitated and looked at you for confirmation, and you nodded him on.

He was incredibly soft, running his fingers over the outline of breasts, as if you could break at any time. But after a moment he got more confident and ran a thumb over your nipple. You involuntarily let out a little moan and he smiled at your reaction. He tweaked the other one and you scrunched up your face but didn't complain. When his mouth suddenly dropped down to them though, you squeaked.

"Sorry, should I..."

"No, no! Surprise squeak, that's all. Keep going. Please." You tried to keep the note of pleading from your voice. Maui complied, kissing the flesh of your breasts tenderly, before reaching out his tongue to give your nipple an experimental lick. It was warm and it tickled and it was wonderful. You sighed at the heat of his mouth and that turned into little mewls as he began to suck. Your nipples were getting a bit sore but you didn't mind, you considered, as you buried your hands in his hair and breathed deeply.

  
You felt something push between your legs and you were a little confused before you realised it was his finger. Gently you let yourself be guided back to the side of the pool, your back leaning against a rock, so you could be a bit more stable. Still paying attention to your breasts Maui pushed a finger between your lips and you moaned.  
He pressed upwards, into the part that made your body sing, and gently began to rub against it. The feeling was magnificent. You'd touched yourself before, in the nighttime when you were sure everyone was asleep, but it was always a quick and desperate thing. This was desperate but intoxicating. You found your hips moving against his hand, just to get the feeling more. He moved his hand so you were rocking against his palm, and gently pressed a finger into your entrance.

You expected it to hurt. When you and the other girls crowded around newlywed brides after their wedding nights, most of them said it was a bit uncomfortable to start off with. But Maui had thick fingers and it didn't hurt at all as he entered you. It was a little strange, sure, the feeling of a man being inside of you, but the feeling against your clit was more than enough to distract you.

  
Maui finally stood upright, and leant his forehead against yours. You gripped his arm tight, feeling so tiny in comparison to him, as you savoured the feeling of his hand.

  
The feeling was building up and up inside you and then it burst out all at once, and you trembled around him, inside and out. Your head came down to his chest and you screamed his name, breathing heavily afterwards as your eyes filled with stars and you rode out the bliss. It was like a volcano exploding. You looked at Maui, amazed.

"That okay?" he asked, genuinely. You nodded with far too much vigour.

"More than okay," you agreed, and let your hand trail down him now. You felt every muscle under his skin, noting how he reacted to every caress. Your hand disappeared under the water as you sought him out. Not that he was hard to find. You were glad that, despite how sizeable he was, your hand was still able to enclose around him.

His dick was warm and you could feel the pulse under his skin as you run your fingers up and down it. Maui's head rolled back as you gripped a little tighter and went a little faster. With your other hand you used your thumb to circle the head, every now and then swiping over the slit. Each action elicited a different response, a gasp here, a breathy whisper of your name there. You buried your head in his chest as you worked him, and his hand came up to rest on your head. He let out a low, guttural sound.

"I don't wanna... this is great. Perfect. Amazing. But can I... uh..." Maui trailed off, but you understood what he was getting at.  
  
"Maui... seeing as you're a demigod and I'm a human, if we... will I get...?" Your hands went to your belly. Maui considered it.

"Pregnant? No, I don't think so."

You hoped it was the truth as you braced your back against the rock and felt Maui position himself against your entrance, giving your clit another couple of soft strokes as he went with his velvety head. You controlled your breathing and tried to relax as Maui pushed into you. It was, indeed, a bit strange. You had to adjust to the feeling of him being inside you, but the water helped and you were aroused enough to know your own body was helping too. You took every bit of him, inch by glorious inch, until he was completely sheathed in you.

"Okay?" he asked. You nodded, still getting used to it, realising how magnificent it was the more you calmed down and just felt him. The two of you weren't separate any more. You were one being, connected in this most intimate of embraces. You knotted your fingers in his hair and then he started to move.

It stung a bit at first, but not badly, and it went away with each gentle pump. Chest to breast, you were locked in safe. And Maui wouldn't hurt you. In fact, as he sped up, feeling you be more pliant around him, the feeling was exquisite. The friction of him against you was just enough to be exciting, and his dick was even better inside of you than it was in your hand. With every thrust of his hips against yours you felt the muscles on him, and your legs desperately went up to be as tangled in his own as possible. Maui buried his head in your hair and you heard him breathe heavily. The feeling of his dick sliding in and out of you was too much for your already over-sensitive core, and you could feel another orgasm coming.

"M...Maui..." you whimpered.

"Are you almost there?"

"Y-yes..."

"Then let go. I've got you."

You did. And he did. His strong arms were around you, keeping you grounded as you came again. You clenched around him and as you did you felt him release into you, filling you with thick jets of himself. His breathing was heavy, and so was yours, and for a while the two of you stayed up against the rock, one with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so many hygiene problems having sex in a pool now filled with bioluminescent algae but that doesn't matter here shh


	13. Chapter 13

A couple of moments passed as you came down from your sensory high. Even though the ecstasy had passed your senses were still full to the brim with Maui, Maui, _Maui_. Your arms held onto him tightly and you felt the rise and fall of his chest, and his pulse everywhere, against your skin, inside of you.

  
Then you began to giggle. Because it was awkward, but in a nice way. You covered your face with your hands to hide your blush.

"Is that good laughter?" Maui asked, gently. You nodded with gusto.

"Yeah. Good laughter. I'm sorry," you said.

  
"Nah, don't be. I get it. I'm, uh, inside you and everything..." you could hear the amusement in Maui's voice as well, as he gently pulled out of you. You gave a little hiss at the sting of it, but the cool water quickly settled that down. You peeped through your fingers at your lover, because that's what he was now.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No, of course not. It was sort of strange at first but... nice. Really nice. Was it... nice for you?"

It felt as though you were discussing breakfast or something just as casual, not the fact that you had just made love. It was probably better this way though. It was wonderful to just be so comfortable with someone like this.

"More than nice!" Maui said, maybe a little too enthusiastically. He realised this and made a show of sweeping his hair back. "What I mean is, you've proved satisfying to me as a demigod. Well done mortal."

You rolled your eyes and playfully slapped his chest, gently.

Then, feeling less embarrassed, you looked up into his face. He bent down and kissed you softly, and held a giant hand against your back.

"Anyway. Did you want to go and start that fire?" you asked. Maui nodded and reluctantly pulled himself away.

"Sure. Get that algae out of your hair, it's making you smell like Lalotai," he said, and you gasped, mock-offended, and splashed water at him.

"You're so mean!" you laughed, and watched him climb out of the pool, making note of the delicious muscles on his ass as he went. Oh my, he was an attractive man. He pulled on his clothes as he headed off into the island.

You lay back in the water and raised up your feet, allowing you to float on the surface. The sound of the waterfall echoed in your submerged ears and you closed your eyes. Your felt incredibly at peace, and made a note to make an offering to Te Fiti when you returned to your island - for it was her wonderful world that you were enjoying.

You washed yourself off thoroughly and then stepped out, putting on your underskirt and top, and made your way through the underbrush to find where Maui had set up a fire for the two of you. Clearly you'd been bathing for longer than you thought because Maui was cooking a couple of fish over the open flames as well, turning them over a makeshift spit with one hand and leaning back jauntily with the other one. He gave you a smile as you sat down next to him.

"Hungry?"

Your stomach rumbled in response and you crossed your arms over it. You hadn't realised what an appetite this day had given you and you ripped in hungrily to the soft meat of the fish, devouring it quickly despite the fact that it was incredibly hot, then wiped the remains off from round your mouth.

"What?" you asked Maui when you noticed he was watching you.

"Nothing. I just like watching you enjoy yourself. I like seeing you happy."

And you paused because, well, you _were_ happy. And it was the first time you could think that someone had actually said that to you, that they valued your happiness? When was the last time you had actually allowed yourself to be happy, come to think of it? All your life had been about making sure that your village was safe. You didn't resent that fact. They were your people after all, and you wanted them to thrive. You would do anything you could to help. But was it so selfish to want to have some time for yourself? To try and have a sliver of that joy for you to enjoy?

Night fell and the evening passed quietly. The two of you had a way of talking about anything and everything, and even if most of it was nonsensical, it was still lovely because it was with him. At some point he stretched out his legs and you lay your head in his lap, using him as a pillow. Full up and content, the brighter the stars got, the happier you were to let yourself fall asleep. Because you knew Maui would be there in the morning for you.

And he was. The dawn broke and the bright rays of the run cut through the cloudless sky and prodded you awake. You stirred and opened your eyes. Maui noticed and gave you a smile.

"Oh man, have you slept?" you asked, noticing he was in almost the exact same position as when you had drifted off. He shook his head.

"Nah, but it's okay. I didn't want to move you in case I woke you up. You really needed some sleep."

You sat up and stretched, smiling sheepishly, going to fetch your dried off overskirt.

"Sleep on the canoe. I can get us home. I know the way."

Maui objected but did fall asleep on the boat, and almost straight away too - he was clearly a lot more tired than he let on. You didn't know when he was more vulnerable - when he was naked before making love to you or when he way just laying there, defenceless, twitching a little as he dreamt.

Both were good. Both were perfect.

The wind must have been with you because you got back a lot quicker than it had taken you to get to Lalotai. At least it felt that way as you landed on the beach of your island. Maui woke up and looked around as the canoe hit the sand.

"Where are we?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Home," was your response, and he looked a bit confused.

"Oh, your island. Right." He looked a bit sad. You wondered if it was because you were leaving.

"I'll be back you know. As soon as I can. And you can borrow the canoe for a while longer if you want to sail?"

"Y'know, I might just take you up on that."

You bit your lip, but then asked the question that had been on your mind on the return trip whilst he had been sleeping.  
  
"Maui, why do you stay? On this island? You're a demigod. You can turn into a hawk, for Te Fiti's sake! Why do you confine yourself here?"

Maui looked at you with those dark, soulful eyes of his and reached out to caress your face.

"Isn't it obvious why I stay?" he asked, and kissed you. It was the answer that you had been hoping for beyond hope. You rested your forehead against his and fought back the choking feeling in your throat that threatened to release tears of happiness.

"I'd spend every waking moment with you if I could. I'd fly you away and have you all to myself," he growled.

 _Maybe one day_ , you thought. But what you said was:

"I should get going. You'll be here when I get back?"

"I'll always be here when you get back," he promised.


	14. Chapter 14

"Pay attention!" said Hi'ilei, poking you with the oar. Water spilled down your back and you jumped.

"Alright! Sorry, sorry," you replied, coming back into reality from where you had been daydreaming.

"If you keep zoning out like that we'll be hopelessly lost forever and we'll have to wait until a group of handsome sailors pick us up," Hi'ilei mused, testing the water with her hand and flicking it dry at you.

"Oh hush. You're better at wayfinding than you want to admit. I don't know how much more I can teach you," you confessed. It was true. Hi'ilei had come on leaps and bounds these past few years. If you ever needed to leave this island you thought you might entrust her to lead the way.

"I don't know. I still have a lot to learn I think. Anyway, this is about you," she jabbed the oar at you accusingly. "I thought spending some time away from the village was meant to clear your head, not clog it up more."

It had been a couple of days since you had returned from your escapades to Lalotai with Maui. It was a strange to try and go back to your old life after that. So far you seemed to be doing alright. Or so you had thought. When you had returned you'd fabricated a story about your needle, how you had been sailing, and wound up on an abandoned island where nothing was left but old treasure and carvings of crabs on the rocks. The young children had gathered round and listened to you intently as if you were magic. You weren't sure if everyone believed you, but it had been left alone just as Maui had said it would be. Until now apparently.

"There you go again!" Hi'ilei cried. "Pay attention to me! Hello, anyone in there?" She waved a hand in front of your eyes and you swatted her away.

"Alright, come on. If we're going to wayfind let's wayfind. Which way is north?" you said as if nothing had happened.

"There," she answered immediately, pointing. She was right as well, though you had to take a moment to check.

"The North Star is there. If you're going to ask me questions at least make them challenging," she replied, cocky. You splashed her and looked to the sky. You had to squint a bit to make it out but yes, the sun had settled down far enough for the stars to begin to make an appearance. Honestly, that girl had the eyes of a hawk. It was quite unsettling. She could tell how many coconuts were on a tree with one quick look, even if it was dark and the tree was hundreds of feet off. It was a bit scary to completely frank.

"Okay so now you've asked me a question I get to ask you one!" said Hi'ilei, sitting down.

"That's not how wayfinding works. You don't barter with the stars."

" _Please_ , I'm worried about you. You've been so distant since we got to this island. Please tell me. We used to tell each other everything."

This was true. If one of you had a problem the other would be the first to know. The two of you had relied on each other over the years more times than you could possibly count. You sighed.

"Come on," she egged, "it's just you, me, and the ocean."

You vaguely wondered if this is why Hi'ilei wanted to go sailing in the first place. Such a sneaky plan wasn't beyond her.

But, in truth, part of you had been dying to tell her ever since you first laid eyes on Maui.

"Alright," you agreed, at length. "There... might be a man."

Hi'ilei squeaked so loudly that you jumped out your skin, almost falling into the sea. She grabbed your hands.

"Oh I thought it might be! I'm so excited. Tell me about him!"

"Well, he's... tall," you said, trying to keep it reasonably vague. "And handsome. Incredibly handsome. And funny. And so sweet. He's got the loveliest hair and his tattoos are... wow."

"But what's his name?" probed Hi'ilei.

"Ma..." but you trailed off. No, that would be too far. If you said his name the floodgates would open and you'd end up telling her too much. So you just shook your head to say no, I can't tell you that.

You saw your cousin's face drop, but her hand came out to hold your shoulder.

"Do you love him?"

"I... I think so," you replied, giggling a bit as a sense of ecstasy fluttered inside you. Hi'ilei kept smiling, even though for a moment you thought it was perhaps a little more sombre than before. It faded quickly, though.

"Then the gods will bring you together. You deserve to be happy."

You hugged her tightly so she couldn't see the tears of joy welling in your eyes, knowing she'd make a joke about it.

You threw yourself into sailing until the sun went down, and then headed back to the island with a net full of fresh fish to boot. You busied yourself gutting the catch and then cooking it all, dancing around the fire as you went. You couldn't help it. You were just... happy. You had your cousin's approval - more or less - and you were in love. You were in love!

You sat in the middle of everyone when you ate dinner that night, chatting away to everyone - listening to the stories the elders told you, making up little songs with the young ones. You didn't remember the last time you had laughed so much.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt here," said Aleki, picking his was through the crowd towards you, "but can I have a few words with the lady of the moment?"

"Huh? Yeah, sure!" you replied, putting your bowl down and jumping to your feet. You followed your brother out to the side of the village.

"Wow, everything's coming along so great, isn't it?" you said, admiring the handiwork that had been made to set up all the huts here. Aleki nodded, but seemed distracted.

"What's the matter...?" you asked, but Aleki's face lit up when you saw two more figures making their way towards you. Hi'ilei and Malosi. You wondered when those crazy kids would get together. Maybe when you and Maui did it would give them the push they needed.

"Hey," Hi'ilei said softly.

"Hey cousin. Hi, Malosi," you said, cheerfully. Malosi smiled broadly and stepped towards you, clearing his throat and saying your name, as if starting some grand address.  
  
"You... are a wonderful woman, you know," Malosi said, gently taking one of your hands. "You are beautiful and strong and you do so much for our people. Without you, I don't know where we'd be. And I think... no, I _know_ that wherever we go next I want to be beside you! I want to be the one who does something for you! I... I want you to marry me."

Oh no.

_Oh, no._

Time seemed to go in slow motion.

Your hand froze in Malosi's. Your family stared at you intently. You were sure your eyes were the size of coconuts.

"Wha?" was your response. Malosi shifted a little, awkward, but went on.

"I want you to be my wife. I thought you wanted that too... Aleki told me..."

Malosi trailed off and looked to your brother. Your brother looked to your cousin, who in turn looked at nothing but her feet. You furrowed your brow and tried to put this all together.

In the name of Te Fiti, what had Hi'ilei _said_?!

"I..." you stared at your brother, desperately. He looked a bit confused, but nodded as if he wanted you to say yes, he was giving you his approval.

"I can't!"

"What?" said Aleki.

"What?" repeated Hi'ilei.

"Why...?" asked Malosi.

"Because... Hi'ilei loves you!"

Technically it wasn't a lie. Your cousin has genuinely had a crush on Malosi for years.  
  
"She does?!"

"She does?"

"I do?!"

Hi'ilei looked mortified, shaking her head.

"No! But on the canoe... you said you were in love... and it was with Malosi right? Or who else could it be?" she asked.

Three pairs of eyes settled on you. All you became aware of was the fact Malosi was still holding your hand. You gently pulled it from his grasp and his fingers curled up, like some sort of dying creature.

"There wasn't... someone else on this island, was there?" asked Aleki, meeting your gaze. You couldn't bear the look on his face... he looked so confused... and betrayed. They all did.

You tried to form the words to explain yourself, but your mouth was dry and your tongue didn't move. You were aware you had started to cry.

"I'm sorry," you said, and took the opportunity to run as fast away from them as you could, to the trees.

To Maui. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little warning - mention of injury here but nothing graphic!  
> Also I had to make ref to the tweeting line from the film. I'm sorry

It was sort of hard to see with the tears cascading down your face, and you ended up tripping a few times. You shouted for Maui, trying to not let your sobs choke you. In your bleariness you caught your foot on a rock and fell flat on the ground. You held out your arms for protection and felt some dry twigs stab into you. You didn’t bother to get up, instead staying on the floor, crying into the dry ground below. And all the while you kept shouting for Maui.

“Whoa, hey, hey, what happened?” his voice was a beacon in the darkness and confusion of it all. You became aware of him kneeling next to you and threw yourself into his arms, letting yourself sob into his chest. You felt his warm hands on your back, smoothing your hair down, soothing.

"I... it’s M-Malosi…” that was as far as you got before the waterworks cut you off.

“Malosi… the tattoo guy? What happened? Did he hurt you?” When you didn’t reply Maui gripped your arms and shook you a little, firmly saying your name. “Did he _hurt_ you?”

You shook your head.

“No, no,” you replied, “nothing like that. I just… It’s all gone wrong.”

That was the easiest summary, and probably the most accurate one. Maui didn’t press it. He just held you tighter to his chest. You felt his soft skin where you buried your face into him, tracing his tattoos gently.

“What can I do?” he asked, quietly.

“I want… I want you to take me away from all this. Please.”

“Is that it? I can do _that_!” Maui stood up and gently brought you to your feet with him. Before you knew what was going on you found yourself on the canoe that you had left with him, and you were far out into the ocean. You watched your island sink into the distance and then disappear over the horizon, swallowed by the sea. You looked up at where Maui was standing at the bow of the ship, guiding your voyage, and realised that at some point you had stopped crying. You rested your head against his thigh from where you sat down next to him, feet dangling in the water.

"Feelin’ better?” asked Maui, and you nodded. You felt something twitch in his leg and you moved your head back to inspect, and saw that mini Maui had scooted down to Maui’s thigh in order to give you a hug. You couldn't help but grin at the gesture.

“Thanks, little guy,” you said, and mini Maui beamed at you. Then you turned your attentions to bigger Maui. “So where are we going?”

“I was waiting for you to ask that,” you could hear the glee in Maui’s voice. He grabbed his hook and began to tie a spare length of rope to it. “Just stand back and watch. You are gonna _love_ this.”

Maui went to the other end of the boat, licked a finger and raised it in the air to test the wind, then looked down into the ocean depths. As if it was as light as a feather Maui began to swing his hook round and round his head, gathering momentum from the rope. When it was so fast you could barely see it, Maui launched it into the sea with an almighty splash. He grabbed onto the end of the rope and waited. The rope pulled taut and Maui’s muscles clenched as he kept his grip. You wondered what he had caught.

You didn’t have to wait long to find out.

Maui grunted and with an almighty heave he began to drag up whatever was on his hook. There was a gigantic rumble, and the water around your boat began to ripple and those ripples turned into waves.

“Wha- Maui!” you shouted, clinging onto the side of the boat for dear life. You could see that the waves were centred, and from that centre you saw something begin to surface. Something rocky, and green. And then, all you could do was watch, awestruck, as a hill began to appear. And what followed that was…

An entire island.

As it rose from the water, grass began to grow, quicker than you ever thought was imaginable. Tiny trees sprouted from saplings and grew dozens of feet high. Flowers blossomed and bloomed.

The noise and waves subsided as it settled into place. Maui turned to you, and swept an arm out to the island as if to show it off to you. He then saw your face and laughed. You were aware your mouth was hanging open because you were completely gobsmacked.

“Impressed?” he asked as he gathered up the rope, pulling in his hook. You didn’t even bother to stop gawping. You just nodded.

"How... how did…?”

Maui gestured to one of his tattoos, where he was hooking an island out of the ocean.

“Demigod. It’s what I do. Anyway, you want to take the first step on land?”

You got to your feet and took Maui’s offered hand to walk off onto the beach. The sand was wet between your toes and your feet sunk down, leaving your fresh footprints on this hitherto untouched place.

“What do you think?”

“This place is… beautiful.”

It was. The island, though covered in green, still had corals on it from where it had been undersea. Droplets of water dripped from all over and caught the last of the sunlight, refracting tiny rainbows.

“She’s all yours,” Maui said. You turned round and raised your eyebrows.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“You know, most guys just get jewellery for the women they like.”

“Ch’yeah, well, I’m not most guys.” Maui flexed and you laughed. Before you could dwell on it for too long, Maui sprung in front of you and stretched, showing off his back muscles. Then he picked up an unfortunate little crab who was scuttling along and used its claws to carve into the bark of a tree, first your name, then his, then a heart around them.

“There. It’s official. Also, when you communicate with via crab, it is called snap-chatting.”

You giggled and then watched as Maui gently lobbed the crab back into the sea.

“Anyway, as I said, this is all for you. You’re the queen here. Your wish is my command,” he gave an over the top bow to you, and continued in a faux grand voice, “what would you desire of me? I am but your lowly subject.”

You laughed, and tried to ignore the fact that seeing Maui on his knees in front of you _really_ did something for you. You shook the thought from your head.

“Alright, well, if I'm a queen, I need a throne?”

“Can do,” said Maui, and you watched him begin to bend the thinner trees down and weave them together until he had made a seat from the boughs themselves. He picked you up, eliciting a squeak, and gently put you down in it.

“A throne. And not a bad one, if I do say so myself,” he admired his own handiwork and nodded in satisfaction. “What else?”

“A crown, I think. A nice one. With flowers.”

“Uh… yeah, alright.”

You watched him scurry around, picking the brightest blooming flowers, before and sitting down next to you. You watched his huge hands try and gently knot them into a circlet. He bit his lip in concentration as he went. He was so adorable you couldn’t stop watching.

“This… is terrible, isn’t it?” he asked. You took it from his grip.

“It’s lovely, but I’ll take it over,” you began to thread the stalks of the flowers together, quite a lot neater than he had been doing. “Actually, you know what, let me put them in your hair. Honestly I think they’ll look nicer on you.”

“Sure,” Maui laughed, and shuffled round so his back was to you, for easier access to his hair. You brushed through the tangles using your fingers and began to braid in the flowers.

"Thank you for this. Like, honestly, I can't tell you how much this means to me,” you said. You expected Maui to shoot back with his characteristic ‘you’re welcome’, but he didn’t.

“You don’t need to thank me. I just wanted to try and make you feel better. You asked me to take you away so I did.”

“Well, you certainly did make me feel better.”

“So… you wanna talk about what happened back there at your village? No sweat if you don't,” Maui asked gently. Perhaps it was easier because he wasn’t looking directly at you, so you could let the words just flow out.

“I… I told Hi’ilei about us. Some stuff, anyway. I didn't say your name and… I think she thought I was into Malosi, and then Malosi asked me to marry him. In front of my brother.”

“Oh,” said Maui. A beat. “And you don’t… want to marry him?”

“Of course not!” you scoffed, horrified that Maui could even think that. “He’s a good man. But I don’t love him.”

You skimmed your fingers from the ends of Maui’s hair onto his back _. I don't love him because I love you,_ is what you wanted to say, but the words got stuck at your lips.

“I don’t want to marry him. But my village does want me to. And the village is my life. I’m the one who knows the way when we find new islands. They need me, but that means I'm not allowed to do what I want. And if I don't live the life that they want for me… then I feel like I'm betraying them. So I’m not allowed to do what I want to do. I’m not allowed to live the life I want to lead. I’m not allowed to be happy.”

You felt the crushing weight of this truth on your soul but before anything else could be said Maui spun round and grabbed your hands, enclosing them in his own, and then kissed them.

“You _are_ allowed to be happy. You are. Let me make you happy,” he reached up and brushed a stray strand of hair out of your face, and then pulled your lips down to his. You kissed him, deeply, feeling his arms wrap around you. When he was sitting down like this the two of you were almost the same height, meaning that it was easy to hold him against you.

"I have another command,” you whispered against his mouth.

“Anything for my queen,” he chuckled, deeply.

“I want you to take me here. On this island you gave me. I want you to make love to me until I don’t remember anything.”

Maui looked into your eyes and nodded, before pulling you down onto the sand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be smut next chapter, but for those of you who don't want to read it, I'll make sure the smut doesn't have any plot relevant info in it :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here is ur filth. nothing plot relevant so u can skip it if u want :)

 Maui lay you down into the soft, wet sand and kissed you. His lips were gentle and pliant as he took control of the kiss, reaching down into it and entering your mouth with his tongue. You hummed pleasantly at the feeling, of the incredible warmth of it, and gently touched your tongue to his own. It was odd, a bit wet, but it encouraged Maui to push onto you. He was so _big._ You knew if he wanted to he could crush you in one hand, but instead you trusted him completely, opening up your body to his whim.

From where you lay under him you hooked a leg round his calf and began to run your foot up and down. The opening of your legs allowed him to push his clothed erection against you, gently rubbing against your slit through both your sets of clothes. You let out a little moan into his mouth. A hand came round to your leg and clamped over your thigh, squeezing the soft flesh there before sliding up to your ass and giving it a gentle slap. You squeaked and Maui brought his head back, black pupils blown wide.

“Is that okay?” he asked. It was. The feeling of the slap had sent a shiver through you which had gone straight to your clit. You nodded before wrapping your arms round his neck and dragging him back down for another kiss, as if to stop kissing him would be like running out of air.

Maui let you kiss him for a moment longer before he moved his mouth off of yours. You went to complain but then you felt his teeth graze against the soft skin of your neck. You gasped as he gently bit down there, just over your pulse, which was fluttering like a butterfly. The sound seemed only to encourage him as he began to kiss his way down your body, all open-mouthed with a graze of teeth. When he got to the rise of your chest, he encouraged you to sit up so he could remove your top, freeing your breasts, running his kiss down the middle of them all the way your bellybutton. You shuddered when he didn’t stop, instead taking a thigh in either hand and kissing down your stomach to the apex of your legs.

You looked down at him, heart hammering, as he gently undid the knot that held your skirt in place. It dropped to the floor, revealing you only had on your underclothes.

“No underskirt?” he asked, voice low. “You were clearly planning to come and see me anyway.”

You huffed but didn’t deny it. It was basically true. He put his lips to the thin piece of fabric that stopped you from being completely bare and kissed you there. The warm breath on your little nub shocked you and you arched your back, jutting your hips into his face. Maui took this advantage to slide one arm under your ass, keeping your hips in the air, and pull aside your underclothes and lick a stripe up you.

The sensation of his rough tongue against your most sensitive area made you buck up once again, but Maui held you tightly in place. Your hands reached out for something to grab onto and found your skirt spread wide beneath you, abandoned. You clenched it in your fists and tried to control your breathing. Maui kept your panties aside with his thumb and buried his face into you. You felt him kissing you, the same way he had kissed down your body, open-lipped and passionate. His tongue darted out every now and then to caress the little nub and send sparks up your body. It was indescribable – when he hit you perfectly you wanted to scream into the sky, but when his mouth wasn’t on your clit you wanted to drag him back.

“Is this alr-” he began, but you cut him off.

“ _Please don’t stop!”_ you cried, desperately, missing the feeling of him already. Maui laughed and obliged, going back to what he was doing. He began to concentrate more thoroughly on the sweet spot of yours, and the pressure was building in the pit of your stomach. The skirt beneath you was no longer sufficing as something to hold on to and your hands suddenly flew into his hair, taking great fistfuls of his beautiful black locks, and pulled him as tightly into your core as you could. Your hips began to move of their own accord, desperate for stimulation, grinding up against his face to get as much friction as you possibly could as his tongue dove in deeper, deeper.

Your orgasm took you completely by surprise. One second you were desperate to peak and then there you were, fireworks in your eyes, your whole body a sensory overload, and coming onto your lover’s tongue. You stopped thrashing and began to breathe deeply, trying to get yourself composed. You didn’t have time, because Maui took advantage of your malleability to move so that he was now lying down and you were astride him. He hooked his lavalava down so that his cock sprung free in front of you, long and delicious. You watched him take himself in his hand and pump a couple of times, seeing the way he bit his lip at the feeling, rolling his head back. His face was still covered in your wetness and it seemed he had no drive to change that. He took a giant thumb and swiped it over his slit, rubbing a bit of precome over himself.

You lowered your head to him whilst his eyes were shut and licked up his length. He jolted and almost threw you off him.

“Hey!” you complained. He looked guilty.

“Sorry! Sorry!” he said, holding his hands up in surrender. You eyed him, faux-suspiciously, before taking him in your own hand. His member was incredibly warm and, whilst hard, the skin on it was still soft. You gripped him tightly and moved your hand a couple of times, up down, up down. Maui’s chest rose and fell and he groaned. When you were sure you had control over him you bent your face back down, rubbing your lips over his head.

This seemed to create a good response. Maui let out a little ‘ _ah’_ at the sensation, and opened his heavy-lidded eyes to watch you work his cock. You took his head into your mouth, sucking lightly, and you got more of the same noises. It tasted strange – not bad, just sort of like seawater. You kept going, undeterred. You wrapped your tongue right and left, then dipped it into the slit at the top of his dick. Maui’s hands came to the side of your face and held you gently as you played with him, experimenting with your mouth.

“Your mouth feels… oh gods…” Maui clearly couldn’t find the words as you let your mouth sink down him, taking as much as you could. You were worried you would gag but that wasn’t a problem, and soon you found your nose being tickled by the coarse hair at the base of his shaft. You moved your mouth up and down, enjoying his little noises and the smoothness of his cock against your lips, having your tongue either play with his head of rest flat on the vein running down his member.

You pulled off him with a small _pop,_ and, wasting no time, discarded your underclothes to the side and lined yourself up against him. You looked into his eyes as you sunk down on him, taking every inch little by little until he was completely buried in your body’s soft grasp.

His hands came to rest on your hips and he gently moved his own under you, shoving his cock even further inside. You felt it brush against the sweet spot on your walls and gasped in ecstasy. You once again began to move, setting the pace as you wanted, moving your body on his. You rode him desperately, the lingering feeling of your orgasm once again becoming reignited. The feeling of your legs on his thick pelvis kept you grounded and your squeezed him tight against your thighs. When he tugged you down to lay on him you didn’t resist, instead letting him move his mouth to yours and kiss you. He still tasted of _you,_ and once again it was strange, but it made you even wetter than you already had been. Holding you down against him as tightly as he could with the flats of his hands on your back, he began to take over once again, going in and out of you like a piston. The feeling was _delicious._

“You’re mine,” Maui growled in your ear, and you nodded, dropping your head to his collarbone and holding onto him for dear life as he sped up. “Did you hear that? _Mine.”_

“Yes, Maui,” you moaned.

“Say it back to me.”

“I’m yours,” you managed, the pace he was setting almost punishing now, the sound of skin slapping on skin taking over the sound of the waves. With the last bit of fight in you before your body released again, you bit down on his neck.

“And you’re _mine_ ,” you whispered, and with one last thrust he spilled inside of you.


	17. Chapter 17

You untangled yourself from Maui and rolled to the ground, ending up on your skirt that had been spread out under the two of you. The two of you said nothing for a moment because you were both too busy trying to get your breath back, but your hands found each other and your fingers entwined. Eventually, when you were both suitably recovered enough to talk, you looked at each other and exchanged a wide eyed glance and a sigh, as if to say 'well that was exhausting.' This then set you off laughing and Maui joined in, running a huge thumb across your own in a small caress. 

"You okay? I didn't hurt you or anything?"

"Not at all. If you ever want to do more of that mouth thing you're, uh, more than welcome," you replied. 

"Ditto," Maui said, and you could see the smug look on his face from being able to bring you to climax just from his tongue. You sighed deeply, revelling in the feeling of the cooling night air on your sweat soaked skin. 

"Can we just stay like this forever, Maui? Please?" you asked, quietly. 

"It's your island, and your wish is my command."

"Maui, I'm serious. This is all I want. You. Right here, forever. Can you not do that? You're a demigod."

"Yeah, of the wind and sea. I can't stop time, I've been trying to do it for decades."

A very important thought crossed your mind for the first time. You weren't sure whether you should pull it, lest this all came unravelled like a badly sewn tapestry. 

"Maui... how old are you?" you asked. Maui shifted, awkwardly. 

"A few hundred years. I kinda lost count," he admitted. Oh gods. An immortal. Of _course_ he was an immortal. 

"You'll get bored of me," you concluded, voice shaking, "I'll grow old and you'll get bored. And you won't want me any more..."

"Hey hey hey! What? Where are you getting all this from?" Maui stood and wrapped you in his arms, burying his face in your hair, planting reassuring kisses on the places where moments ago he had bitten. You let yourself relax a little, but still held your worries close. You scanned the horizon, blinking back anxious tears. You saw what looked like a boat in the distance, but you shook your head. It was probably just a piece of rock jutting from the sea. 

"Yeah, so, I'm immortal. If that matters to you we can end this -" you squeezed his arms desperately, _no, you didn't want to end this._ "But you've got to know. You, uh. You have my heart and soul. Everything I am has passed into your hands. I'm yours, for as long as you want me."

"Oh, Maui..." you whispered, not sure what to say. Your heart flew in your chest. 

"Yeah. I'm not good at the uh, emotional, squishy stuff," he muttered.

"I think you are," you, and turned to kiss him, deeply. But reality had already sunk in, and when your kiss was done, you began to pick up your discarded clothes. 

"What's your call, my queen?" asked Maui, "where are we heading?"

"I should go back," you sighed, "for a little while, anyway. Try to explain why I run away. Maybe start coming clean about some of this."

Maui nodded, looking a bit sad, but understanding. He gathered his hook and watched you dress, before walking back to the canoe and casting off. 

You tried to put the words together in your head, for what you were going to tell your family. Whatever you came up with made you sound like a crazy person. ‘Hey, Aleki, this is… I guess, my boyfriend? Godfriend?’ or ‘Everyone, meet Maui, we’ve been having an affair, anyway who wants to see the island he pulled up for me?’

As Maui steered the boat all you could do was sit in silence and chew your lip. Maybe you just shouldn’t go back. Maybe you should take this chance to just run away with the man who you were in love with, go far across the sea, live out your days in happiness.

Abandon them.

A deep wave of guilt run over you. No, you couldn’t just leave. They were your people. Your family, and you loved them too. Even if they were stuck in their old ways they still deserved more than you just leaving without an explanation.

Besides it was too late, as you had already reached shore of your home island. It was dark, the stars lighting your way, bathing the waxy leaves of the thick jungle in silver. It was quite beautiful. You got to your feet and looked at Maui, finding comfort in his deep brown eyes.

“And you’ll be here when I get back?” you asked timidly. You couldn’t imagine it was going to be easy, facing your family again. Facing Malosi.

“Always. C’mhere,” Maui muttered, taking your hand and pulling you flush against his chest. He bent his head down and met your lips in a kiss, gently taking your face in his huge hands. You felt so warm. So safe.

“ _What is this?_ ”

The both of you jumped and sprang apart. From out of the thick trees stepped your brother, followed by a good dozen members of your village, including a horrified Malosi. Some were holding spears.

“Aleki… what…?” you began. From behind your brother stepped your cousin, eyes cast downwards, tears spilling over her eyes. Aleki pointed at Maui with the sharp end of his spear. The pointed flint flashed in the moonlight,

“Hi’ilei, is this who you saw her with?” he asked. Maui grabbed you and pulled you to his chest, protectively. In response the spear holders stepped closer.

“Yes,” Hi’ilei whispered. It fell into place. You _had_ seen a boat. Had she… followed you?

Your cousin looked up and met your gaze, her eyes watery.

“I’m _sorry,_ ” she sobbed, “He asked me to go after you. I had to. I was worried about you.”

You stepped out of Maui’s grasp, standing between him and your people. You started at Aleki.

“Lower the spears, Aleki. He isn’t going to hurt you.”

“How do we know that?! You’ve been keeping this man a secret from us! How do we know he hasn’t been threatening you to come and see him?”

Beneath the anger there was a genuine note of worry in your brother’s voice. This was exactly the sort of conclusion he would jump to.

“Look, I-” began Maui, but Aleki bared his teeth at him.

“Come no closer to my sister,” he said. You saw your brother’s eyes go wide, and followed his gaze. On Maui’s pectoral mini Maui had started to move, biting his nails, terrified. Aleki stared in horror.

“What is that?” he hissed. You began to explain but instead your brother grabbed you by the wrist and threw you behind him, using himself as shield between you and Maui. Hi’ilei grabbed onto you desperately but you shrugged her off.

“What are you?” asked Aleki. “Some kind of _demon_?”

Maui’s mouth fell open, horrified. You grabbed at your brother’s spear.

“He isn’t a demon! He’s a demigod!” you cried. There was as gasp and gentle mumble from the others. Aleki stared at you, shocked.

“What has this demon _done_ to you? Sister, he’s brainwashed you! What sort of demigod spirits away a woman from her family?” he asked, a fire in his eyes. At some point you had started to cry. You desperately tried to disarm your brother, but to no avail.

You couldn’t have known, of course. You were too busy fighting your brother. But what Maui saw was this:

He saw you, the love of his life, fighting with her people over him.

He saw the way all of you were in so much hurt, and it was his fault for engaging with you in the first place.

He saw the way that you got nicked by the flint on the end of the spear, blood spilling from the little cut.

He realised just how _mortal_ you were.

He realised that if he stayed with you, you could never have a proper life. He could offer you nothing except the life of a nomad, never stopping, never settling. Never having any semblance of normality. He would be robbing you of a life, and he couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t do that to you.

With a heavy soul, heart breaking, Maui opened his mouth.

“ _Quiet!”_ he roared, and silence fell over the small crowd. You stared up at him.

“I am Maui, demigod of the wind and sea. I took this woman and used her for my own base pleasures. And now I am done with her, and so I give what remains of her back to you.”

You didn’t know what to say. Maui wouldn’t ever speak like this. What about everything that he had said, on the island? You stepped towards him and grabbed his arm.

“Maui-”

Maui raised his arm, shaking you off with such vigour that you fell to the floor. Tears began to spill down your face. You didn’t understand what was happening. You didn’t _understand._

“But you said…”

“I said a lot of things to get you to open to me. But now I’m done with you. I don’t want to see you. Ever. Again. Go back to your puny life, mortal. Be no longer under my spell. I release you.”

From being so close to him, you could see the tears building up in his eyes. He didn’t meet your gaze, but you still heard a crack in his voice as he spoke. He didn’t want to do this, surely?

“Maui,” you choked out, “I love you.”

His jaw clenched.

“I know,” he replied, and then struck his hook on the ground. In a blinding flash there stood the giant hawk who had flown with you to the island, guided you here. There were a couple of shouts of horror. Maui looked at you one last time, let out a piercing screech at the others, and then took to the air.

“Maui! Maui, no!” you cried, trying to grab a handful of feathers, but getting there too late. “Maui, I love you!”  
He beat his wings and soared off into the night sky, but you kept screaming, tears like waterfalls.

“ _No! I love you! Maui!”_

You didn’t know if he heard you. But he didn’t come back. You beat your fists into the ground, sending up dusts of sand, and screamed. You distantly heard in the background your brother telling someone to bring the village elders, they would know how to cleanse the evil that had been put on you. Next to you your cousin’s voice was in your ear, saying how sorry she was but that now you were free from the demon. You didn’t pay attention to them. All you could hear was the sound of your own sobs, and the words you kept repeating.

_I love you. I love you. I love you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOHOO THAT CHAPTER DID A 180 
> 
> sorry for the angst (im not sorry)


	18. Chapter 18

Hi’ilei’s hand was all you felt in the sea of loneliness around you. She rubbed your back soothingly, as if she was comforting a child. You wanted to shove her away, scream at her for betraying you. But you knew it wasn’t her fault. She had only been doing what she had thought was best for you.

You became aware of bustling, and then several pairs of hands holding you, guiding you to your feet. The oldest women in the village were keeping you surrounded, and you vaguely recognised the cleansing chant they were reciting. You didn’t have the energy to fight back, to argue that the man you had kept declaring your love to wasn’t a demon, and so you let yourself be led back home. You were taken to the biggest hut that had been built and sat in the centre of a circle of elders. They looked at you with pity as they did their ritual, a ritual of purifying, one that you had been taught to you. One that was meant to drive away evil. One that, in your whole life, you didn’t think would ever be centred on you.

There were too many eyes on you. You hated it. You didn’t want them to see you like this, sobbing desperately, emotionally broken. So you wrapped your knees tight against your body and hid your face in your crossed arms, trying to find a bit of privacy in this cacophony of chaos.

At some point you run out of tears to cry. All you could do was choke out your sadness in ugly sobs, and then you even run out of the energy to do that. You simply sat there, cocooned into yourself, staring silently at the woven reed mat under you and realising you would never feel Maui’s arms around you again.

Eventually the elders finished, and though you didn’t look up, you could hear them talking to your brother. You didn’t hear all of it but you got that they were saying it would be best if you remained where you were for the night, give whatever macabre spirits which had been in your body a chance to vacate. You knew this building should have been used for village affairs – meetings or celebrations. Instead its first use was to try and drive out the memory of your lover.

You heard your name being gently called by your cousin, who you felt sit down and wrap her arms around you. You made no attempt to embrace her in return. You could feel her crying into your hair, and you weren’t sure if it was because she felt guilty for ratting you out or because she was genuinely worried being separated from Maui had hurt you. She began to gently hum the song that you always sang together. Desperately you tried to block it out, because you could only hear Maui’s voice singing it now.

“You’ve gotta sleep here, okay?” asked Hi’ilei, “but I’ll be with you for the entire thing. I said I’ll sleep in here too and look after you.”

You didn’t reply. When sleeping mats were brought for you and Hi’ilei, you let yourself be laid down to go to sleep. Hi’ilei reached out to hold your hand but you snatched it away, cradling it to yourself. You didn’t want to be touched. You didn’t want to be talked to. What you wanted was to be wherever Maui was.

Sleep took you. The last few hours had been exhausting. You were worried that you would be plagued with dreams of your lover leaving you, but your sleep was remarkably silent. Maybe that was worse. As if your mind was already trying to forget about him.

You woke up in what must have been the early afternoon, judging by the position of the sun. Nobody had tried to wake you. You didn’t even have a few blissful moments of reprise in your bleariness – the memories of the day before came flooding back to you, hitting you like hurricane. You lay there until someone noticed you were awake.

They passed you food, and you ate some. They walked you out of the hut, you followed. They sat you on a rock where you could be kept an eye on. You didn’t resist. You simply couldn’t bring your body to do anything. You didn’t speak. You just looked out to the ocean, off across the water, at the line of the sky and the sea.

It didn’t get much better.

Every day was the same. They got you up, and you sat. You went to sleep back in the girls’ hut. You ate food. Eventually you found yourself being able to do mundane things, preparing the dinners and weaving baskets, but there was no fire in you. Once where you would have spent your days exploring and laughing you sat in your own, grey world, still miserable, still heartbroken.

Of course everyone worried about you. They kept a round-the-clock watch on you, to make sure you didn’t wander off or _gods forbid_ go and steal a canoe. Aleki would keep asking you what was on your mind, and you would reply “nothing”. You didn’t change your answer, even when he got angry, even when he pleaded with you to talk. Hi’ilei always placed herself next to you and tried to goad you into conversation, told you silly stories or rude jokes to get a laugh from you, but nothing worked. Because you still _missed_ him. A chunk had been torn from your life and you couldn’t be complete.

Fifteen days. Fifteen days passed, each one longer than the last. You tried to keep Maui’s face in your mind as well as you could, terrified one day you would wake and not be able to recall the gap in his teeth, the colour of his eyes. On the fifteenth day, Malosi approached you for the first time since the incident at the beach.

“Hey,” he said, gently, “can we talk, please?”

You gave a deep, deep sigh and nodded, putting down your weaving. He’d probably ask you to marry him again. You didn’t know if you would say yes or no. Not that it mattered any more.

The two of you walked out to the beach, far away from the village, where it was quiet. Malosi sat down on a boulder which faced out to the sea and gestured for you to do the same. You didn’t argue.

“He wasn’t a demon, was he?”

It was the last thing that you had expected, and your head snapped up to meet Malosi’s gaze. He didn’t look angry or irritated. He just looked… puzzled.

“No,” you replied, voice hoarse from so much silence over these last two weeks. Malosi sighed and looked out to sea.

“I’m sorry about how things went before. With your brother and the whole proposing thing. I really thought it was what you wanted.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, Malosi. I’m not angry,” you confessed. You didn’t really feel anything anymore.

“Look, I… know it isn’t any of my business. So I’m not going to ask where you met him or who he was. But I just need you to answer one thing for me, please?”

You nodded.

“Do you really love him?”

And just like that the urge to cry return, bubbling up in your throat and threatening to spill over.

“Yes, Malosi. I do. With all my heart. With everything that I am.”

Malosi’s shoulders lagged and his voice was heavy.

“Then I think you should go after him.”

That got you like a slap in the face.

“What?”

“I don’t want to stand in the way of true love. If you have a chance, you’ve got to go after it. Which is why,” he jumped to his feet and sprinted behind you, pulling back some heavy branches. There was the canoe that you and Maui had stolen.

“Which is why, two weeks ago, when they took you away, I decided to hide the boat you came here on. Until I could get you alone.”

“Malosi… I… I don’t understand,” you whispered, looking between him and the boat. He smiled.

“Alright, I’ll say it plainly: I want you to get in the boat and sail after the man who looked like he had tree trunks for arms.”

Oh no, it was time for the waterworks.

Tears came as you jumped up and threw yourself in Malosi’s arms.

“Thank you,” you ugly-cried into his ear. Malosi laughed.

“Don’t thank me. Just get on the boat and get out of here before they realise you’re gone,” he said. You stepped away from him and cuffed away your tears, nodding. The two of you pulled the boat through the sand and into the sea. You cast off as quickly as you could. As you sailed onto the deep blue sea, you cast a look back at the island. Malosi was watching you go, a sort of bittersweet smile on his face. When you waved he waved back with gusto, sending you off on your way.

You took the sheet, lowered the sail. You were heading to your island.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY WARNINGS  
> there is some graphic description of blood and injury here. i didnt want to put that in the main fic tags because it was kind of spoiler-y.

You sailed as fast as you could. You didn’t want to risk anyone back on the island seeing you, save for Malosi. You wondered, when they realised you were gone, if they would send people after you. You could imagine Hi’ilei fighting to get to a canoe, desperate to lead the voyage that would follow you out to sea. You hoped your brother would hold her back. You loved her, but all you could think about right now was Maui, and how he was waiting for you somewhere out on this vast ocean.

You planned the route in your head. You would go to the island he had pulled up for you first, and check there. If not you would move onto Lalotai, reasonably certain that you could remember the Haka that would allow you entrance at the great stone mouth. If he wasn’t _there,_ well… you’d cross that bridge when you got to it.

A stray wave rose up over the boat, slapping at your bare feet. You looked at it, puzzled.

“You stop that,” you muttered to the sea. The sea did not hear you.

You kept on sailing, and even though you tried to ignore it, there was no denying that the sea was getting rougher. The wind was sending you along fast, indeed, but the tide was beginning to be difficult under your boat. What you really, really tried to disregard was the fact that the further you sailed to the horizon the darker the sky was getting, and not because of the setting sun. As if pretending that it wasn’t there would somehow make it go away. Low, dark grey clouds hung heavy in your path. You could see the streaks downwards where rain was falling, pummelling into the ocean, like it was ink running from a painting.

Okay, a storm, you tried to reason with yourself. A storm wasn’t too bad. You had sailed your people through a storm before. Back when you were only fifteen you had been migrating between islands, the whole fleet of your people in tow. What was almost a tsunami had whipped up, and there was no way to escape it. But you had grit your teeth and sailed through, crying instructions into the wind to the others, and you had all made it out of there alive.

You put your hair up in a tight bun. This way, when the gusts came, no stray strands would fall into your face. With the sea being like it was there was no way you were going to be able to sail around it. Turning back, if you could, would return you to your island, and who knew when you were going to get this opportunity again. It looked like the only way forward was through it.

You tied the sail in place and held onto the oar with both hands, trying to keep your little vessel sailing as straight as you possibly could. The choppy waves sent you up and down as if it was their delight to try and knock you from your feet. You stood firm. It was just a storm. And after the storm, you would be that much closer to Maui.

Your heart in your chest, you sailed into the cover of the clouds.

You didn’t know. You couldn’t have known.

When the rain first hit you, it was gentle. For a couple of seconds. It got a lot harder incredibly quickly. It pelted down on your bare skin and every single droplet stung like the bite of an insect. Your skin began to redden from the barrage but you shoved that concern to the back of your mind, instead trying to keep your boat forward-facing to cut through the slowly growing waves that were building. Each time you crested one a spray would splash up from the ocean and soak you, the rain not letting up either. You had to keep the oar in your hands, clenched so tight that your knuckles were turning white, otherwise the storm would carry it away from you – you had no way to shield your eyes from the onslaught of water and salt, and as you kept going you realised you were essentially sailing blind.

You were concentrating so hard on staying stead that the first clap of thunder made you scream. You jumped, terrified from the surprise, but steadied yourself quickly despite the hammering in your chest. Just thunder, it was just thunder.

Until lightning flashed across the clouds around you.

It was so bright and brilliant it blinded you for a moment, adding to all the other problems you were facing. You had never been so close to it before. The bolt cut through the sky, fragmenting the grey into fractions, like a kind of gnarled claw reaching for you. The way exploded illuminated the rain around you, sparking up the droplets like a barrage of the fireflies you saw on your islands.

More lightning, more thunder. You had to remind yourself to breathe, so much concentration was going into sailing. There was no way to turn back now even if you wanted to. You just had to keep going. And you desperately tried to ignore the fact that what you were, under everything else, was scared. You were sailing through a storm, alone, and you were terrified. You wanted Maui more than anything to help you, keep his hands on yours, telling you he _knew_ you could sail you to safety.

Lightning hit the water a few hundred feet away and you screamed. You saw it dance across the surface of the ocean towards you and slam into your boat. The intensity of the rain mean it didn’t catch on fire, but damage had been done. The beams connecting the outrigger to the canoe began to splinter, and before you could do anything, they broke. Part of your boat was swept away and under the ocean in seconds.

This was bad. Keeping your boat upright was going to be a lot harder. You dug the oar in deeper to the waves to try and steady yourself, but a particularly violent wave tugged it from your grasp, and it was gone too.

You looked around at this sea of chaos. At the tidal wave coming towards you, at the heaviness of the clouds. The sound of the thunder as it rolled deeper.

You couldn’t sail out of this.

You whispered Maui’s name to yourself, and lightning struck the mast.

The boat shattered under your feet and fell apart, dropping you into the wild water. The current was too quick for you to really make out anything but you vaguely saw the planks of wood that once was your ship be destroyed by the sea. The wave you had seen before knocked you wildly and you span out of control.

The shards of your boat were pushed outwards at incredible force, going all over. A piece of mast about as long and thick as your arm rushed towards you. Before you could do anything – not that you would have had a chance against the ocean – it speared you, straight through the stomach, skewering you through. You screamed in pain, and as you did you sucked water into your lungs. You thrashed wildly, seeing red begin to blossom up in the water. Everything began to go dark.

Oh gods, this was it.

Was that a figure you saw coming towards you…?

Blackout.

_Wake up. Wake up._

You coughed up a lung of seawater over yourself, and found that what filled them back up was air. You gulped it in, but it was difficult. It was like your body wasn’t happy with you trying to breathe.

You felt a pressure on your abdomen, and looked down. Your whole body hurt.

Maui was there. Maui was pushing his hands down on you. You didn’t understand why. Everything was so fuzzy. Out the corner of your eye you could see the piece of mast that had hit you, dyed completely red.

You coughed again and tasted blood.

“Mau… M…”

Maui looked up. He was soaking wet, but it didn’t disguise the fact that he was crying.

“Don’t move!” he said, desperately, pushing down harder. “I’m trying to stop the bleeding… what in the name of Te Fiti were you thinking?! Why were you sailing through that?!”

He sounded like he was trying to shout but his sobs got in the way of his words. You forced up a hand to move some hair from his face and wipe a tear.

“I… n-needed you, dummy…” you managed, and Maui shook his head.

“This wasn’t meant to happen. You were meant to stay on your island and live a normal life… where you wouldn’t be in danger… you were meant to _live,”_ his jaw trembled as he let the tears spill down his face.

“I wouldn’t l-let you get away that easy… I’m your queen, r-remember?” a coughing fit. You put your hand to your mouth and when you moved it away, you saw there was crimson in your palm.

“ _Don’t die_ ,” Maui begged, more desperate than you had ever seen him. His tears dripped off his chin and onto his hands, where your blood was beginning to seep out through the cracks in his fingers. “I can’t live without you. Please, don’t die.”

He looked you in the eye.

“ _I_ _love you,”_ he said.

You noticed something under his hair. It felt like it took all the strength in the world, but you reached up to brush it aside. Over his heart, his ink was beginning to move. It knitted itself apart, and then back together again, forming a new tattoo. There was a tiny woman on a boat, hair up in a bun, confused.

It was _you._

Mini Maui ran to her and swept her up in his arms. She laughed and kissed him. You run your fingers over his skin and they went still.

“Looks like I gave you a tattoo after all,” you said, managing a little chuckle.

Maui started to say something else, but it was all so much effort. You were so tired.

You took your last breath, and went limp in Maui's grasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and u thought ch17 was bad
> 
> if its any consolation, remember that i am an absolute sucker for a happy ending.


	20. Chapter 20

Everything was strangely warm. Odd, you had expected death to be cold. But instead it felt like you were being held, perhaps back in Maui's strong arms.

The darkness wasn't so bad, you concluded. It was... well, dark, but peaceful. And you didn't feel pain any more. You just felt lovely. Relaxed and happy.

_Open your eyes, child._

Strange. Were you not alone in death?

_Open your eyes._

You did.

There was light. Quite a lot of it. But it didn't blind you. Instead, it made you feel warmer. Safer.

There was a lot of green, and a feeling... a feeling of energy. A feeling of life. It was difficult to describe. It was a sensation that run through you, filled every sense. You'd never felt so... alive.

You were facing what appeared to be a small, glowing pebble. It pulsed like a heartbeat. Your hand instinctively went to touch it.

_Please don't, child._

You jumped and looked around. Whatever voice was speaking to you, it wasn't out loud. It was coming from inside your head... like someone was thinking thoughts into you.

Slowly you raised your eyes. Looking down at you was a giant. It should have scared you, but you felt impossibly calm. She was beautiful, her face was made of green - like moss and grass was her very skin. Her eyes were large and kind and she had a little reassuring smile on her great face.  
  
Thoughts run wild in your head as you made connections. No. It couldn't be.

"Te... Fiti?"

She nodded. You fell to your knees, pressing your forehead down into the soft ground below you, bowing as far as you could into... gods, she was holding you in her hand.  
  
_No need for that, my dear one. Come to your feet._

You did, unsteadily, but didn't dare meet her gaze. It was too much. But a giant finger rose to your face, and impossibly gently lifted your chin up so she could look you in the eye. Her smile was comforting.

_I've been watching you._

"Oh?" you choked out.

_I like to keep an eye on Maui sometimes. To make sure he doesn't get into trouble. But strange, where I expected to find chaos, I found accompanying him a beautiful young woman._

A beautiful young...

"Oh, me?" you were genuinely surprised, but bowed again at her compliment. "Th-Thank you."

_He is in love with you. He's never loved anyone in this way before. It's so obvious even a monster could see it._

"I know. It's hard to believe," you replied.

 _I've never seen him so happy. Or so... out of trouble. You are so good for him._  
  
"I _was_ so good," you whispered, still horribly reminded of where you were, of what had happened.

_Hm. Yes, that is a problem. But not one that cannot be fixed, I think._

You looked to her, puzzled.

"But... how, my goddess?"

Te Fiti raised her finger again, and tapped your chest. It wasn't gentle, and it pushed you back a bit, making you stumble. But your body suddenly felt incredibly warm, heat radiating from where she had made contact.

"What...?" you murmured.

_This is life, child. I have given it to you. The gift of everlasting life._

"Immortality? I mean, thank you... but... my goddess, why?"

_Because you have won the heart and soul of a demigod. And if his immortal soul has been passed onto you, surely this too would make you an immortal._

Memories flooded back. Maui had said that you had his heart and soul, back when you were on your island.

"Is that... is that enough?" you asked.

_Child, I wouldn't be a goddess if I didn't occasionally let myself meddle in the affairs of mortals. Sometimes things just need a gentle nudge in the right direction._

"My goddess..." you were overwhelmed. "I don't know what to say."

_Say nothing. But I have a task for you._

"Anything."

_Use this gift wisely. Stay with Maui. Love him. Keep him out of trouble for me._

It was the best thing that could have ever been asked of you.

"Thank you," you choked out.

_You're welcome._

Light swallowed you.

 

Hi'ilei looked at where her cousin was laid out. You looked so serene in death. The elders had removed the worst of the wood splinters from the wound and now you lay, still, on a thick mat in the middle of the main hut.

Maui sat next to her, watching you as well. When he had arrived at the village with your body in his embrace everyone had gone up in arms, but Malosi had shouted and vouched for him. Hi'ilei didn't know what was going on, but she trusted Malosi, so took his corner. Maui had explained what happened. His grief at your death was evident. He had no part in it. It wasn't his plan to see you suffer. He wasn't some demon. He was a man who loved you.

When he had arrived, out of breath from running, Aleki had clutched your body and cried.

Maui had been allowed to stay as the funeral arrangements were made.

"So what happens now?" asked Maui, his eyes not leaving you. His voice was so small. Hi'ilei could see he wasn't a bad man.

"We build her a boat and burn her, send her out to sea," she replied. It was a harsh truth. From the ocean everyone had come and from the ocean everyone would go. Maui nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said. Hi'ilei put a comforting hand on his arm. The tears weren't even dry on her face and there she was, trying to help stop somebody else's.

"She sailed after you herself, Malosi told us. She would have found a way to do it anyway sooner or later. You didn't tell her to sail. You sold her the opposite. It wasn't your fault."

"But she's gone, and I couldn't stop it."

"None of us could."

His words were heavy.

"I loved her. No, I still do. I still love her."

"I know."

Something strange began to happen.

Your chest began to glow.

It was like the glow was coming from inside you, so bright it shone through your skin. Hi'ilei's hand tightened on Maui's arm in terror, and the two of them looked at you-wide eyed. From around them, the people who witnessed it began to gasp and shout.

  
The glow got brighter, and from it, a tall green stalk began to grow. It with a flourish of blossomed into a perfect pink flower. From its base dozens more tiny buds grew and opened, spreading all over your body until you were covered in them.

You took in a sharp, deep breath and opened your eyes, sitting up in panic. Swallowed by Te Fiti's light and spat back out again, into... where?

You looked around. You were back on the island of your village, that much was clear. And sitting watching you was... Maui and Hi'ilei?

"Why am I covered in flowers?" you asked, the first question your confused brain could muster.

Maui barely got to his feet before he scrambled over and grabbed you tight. It knocked the newly formed breath from you, but you found your arms wrapping round him in return.

"You... how?" he whispered, not moving, holding you even firmer.

"I owe Te Fiti a favour," was all you could reply. Maui finally let go and held you at arm's length, checking you over. You looked down to see the scar where the boat had impaled you had healed completely, and all that was there now was some moss clinging to your stomach. You looked back up into Maui's eyes.

"You're crying," you said, with a smile.

"Yeah, well, so are you," he said, but the grin on his face was bigger than you had ever seen.

Suddenly, Maui was pulled off you. With more force than you ever could have expected to come from such a small girl Hi'ilei flung him aside and tackled you.

"How... what... Don't ever do that again!" she screeched. You laughed.

"Don't worry, I won't," you replied, hugging her back with all your might.

"Tell me... can you... I'm going to get Aleki!" Hi'ilei said, getting to her feet and running away faster than you had ever seen her go.

There was a crowd growing but you and Maui were left in the hut. You looked at each other for a moment, not quite believing the other one was there.

"Don't leave me again, you ass," you said, a bit angry. Maui held up his hands.

"I'm sorry, I won't. It was the most stupid thing I've ever done."

"Wow. And you have done a _lot_ of stupid things."

Maui looked mock-offended, but it didn't last long. The two of you were suddenly in each other's arms again, desperate to touch, to keep each other real. Your lips locked and you kissed like nobody was watching.

"So, you love me?" asked Maui, quirking an eyebrow. Mini Maui and mini you were locked in a little embrace of their own, and you watched as they got so intimate they accidentally fell over.  
  
"I suppose I do."

"Good, because I love you," he said, and with his hands on your waist pulled you back in for a kiss, deeper and more heartfelt than any you had shared before.

Then your brother's voice:

"Can you two... maybe stop kissing like that in front of... your family and uh, everyone, please?"

You heard him. You didn't listen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always imagine Te Fiti as sorta sassy.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags/warnings:   
> Marriage, discussion of pregnancy, discussion of menstruation.

"What?" you asked Hi'ilei, from where she was smirking at you from across the room.

"Nothing. It's just adorable how you can't stop smiling."

"Don't call me adorable, I'm older than you! _You're_ adorable."

"Yes I am, thank you," she agreed. You threw one of the heavier flowers at her which she dodged. You weren't really annoyed, of course. It was true. Ever since you had had your... encounter with Te Fiti, there had sort of been a permanent smile on your face. It was there when Maui had dinner with the village for that first night, everyone keeping their distance and then creeping closer when they realised he wasn't going to hurt them, and he ended up the centre of attention - the little ones staring slack-jawed as he told them of his adventures. It was there when he had asked your brother if he could marry you, trying to seem respectful but looking uncomfortable because the last time he'd really interacted with your brother he'd had a spear pointed at his chest. It was there when Aleki had said yes, so long as you consented to it, and then given him the most awkward hug in the history of brothers-in-law. Aleki had been grinning the whole time, too, clearly enjoying making your betrothed uncomfortable. You'd rolled your eyes. But you'd smiled.

"So are you nervous?" asked Hi'ilei. You shrugged, concentrating on your work, which was getting harder as the sun went down.

"Sort of? Good nervous. Pass me that flower," you asked.

Since Te Fiti, you'd had a strange influence on the flowers. Whenever you were near them for too long they would begin to grow, far more quickly than they should, and blossom to their fullest beauty. You weren't sure if it was another gift from the goddess or an unintentional side effect but either way it was helping you with the lei you were making. The lei you'd be giving to Maui tonight, at your wedding.

Wedding. That sounded so strange.

You studied your handiwork. The lei you had made was full of colourful flowers, woven together intricately. You'd made it as thick as possible so it didn't get lost on him, there were probably a couple of hundred individual plants in there. Man, you hoped it would fit round his neck.

She was still staring at you.  
  
"What?! I'm getting weaving anxiety. Stop watching me."

"I was just wondering when your last bleed was."

"Um?!" You squeaked.

"Oh, every woman in the village has her time of the moon together. And you didn't bleed last cycle."

Your hand went to your abdomen. She was right, once again. One of two things had happened. Either the accident had made it stop and you could never mother a child, and that was something not even Te Fiti could fix.

Or, well... you had stopped bleeding because of the usual reason women stopped bleeding, before the telltale bump appeared.

Honestly it wouldn't be too difficult to believe. You had been back on your island with Maui for three weeks now, and the two of you had a habit of... sneaking off. Flirty looks would be exchanged across the fire pit, or the two of you would go off to run an errand together, and suddenly you'd be up against a tree, legs wrapped around Maui as he pounded into you so hard you were worried that the two of you might cause an earthquake.

"Let's not think about it, alright?" you asked. "Let's talk about you and Malosi."

Hi'ilei giggled like a little girl. It was nice to see her so happy. When Malosi had started showing an interest in her you had been worried - you wanted to trust him, but you were concerned he was settling for her as a second choice. So you asked Maui to take him aside and have a... gentle talk with him. When they returned Malosi looked a little terrified but his affections to your cousin were revealed to be genuine.

"He's sweet. I like him," she summarised. It was the understatement of the century but you didn't push it. You finished the lei with a flourish and held it up for her to inspect.

"Beautiful. And it looks like you're just in time," Hi'ilei said, as a gaggle of chattering women made their way towards you to help you prepare for your wedding.

"Are you ready?" asked one of the older ladies, smiling. You bit your lip and nodded.

"Yes. Definitely."

Of course, every island had a different tradition. You had met other voyagers before who didn't even believe in marriage. But you liked it. It symbolised the fact that two people wanted to be together for the rest of their days. And that was what you and Maui planned to do.

So you would meet, and swap leis. Then you would dance together, the dance that your people had been doing at weddings for as long as anyone could remember. And Aleki would bless you as chief and then you'd party the night away.

You let yourself be dressed by the women, covered in bright shell jewellery and luminous paints. You stood and took it, knowing it would be worth it in the end.

They covered your tattoos as they decorated you. You had had more done since you returned. The most important, though, was your own little mini you and mini Maui. They didn't move of course, and Maui liked to mock-gloat how his tattoos were better, but you still liked having them there over your heart, locked in an eternal embrace.

"You look so beautiful," sighed Hi'ilei, and there was a murmur of agreement. Night was closing in and torches were beginning to be lit. You tried to squash down the butterflies in your stomach.

"Alright, let's do this. Before I lose my nerve," you said. You wouldn't lose your nerve, of course, but the anticipation had you jittery. You hadn't seen Maui in three days prior to your wedding, kept apart to make the wedding night sweeter. Damned traditions.

The fire pit was glowing bright, and the whole village was gathered. They watched you and smiled as you carried your lei towards where your husband to be stood, waiting. He was decorated like you, bright and joyously. Flowers had been braided into his hair and paint swirled in intricate patterns over his tattoos. He looked handsome, of course, but also a little ridiculous... he was so huge compared to everyone else, and he had so much colour on he looked a bit like some sort of bird.

But still, the way he looked at you when you stepped into the light of the torches... it was as if his whole world had been lit up. You'd never thought someone could look so in love just from the expression in their eyes.

"Hey," you said, underwhelming, when you were in earshot of him.

"Hi," he responded, and you both chuckled. Aleki very loudly cleared his throat, delighting in how awkward it made the two of you.

"Well, shall we get started? Maui? Sister?" he asked, with a great grin on his face. You rolled your eyes.

"Don't be an ass, Aleki," you said, but smiled.

  
Aleki puffed out his chest and began the chants that you had heard so often at weddings. Your people joined in. You looked over at your cousin who had tears on her face, by nodded encouragingly.

"This is for you," you said, holding up the lei. You reached on your tiptoes and threw it round his neck. It landed just under his collar bones and looked wonderful. Maui run his fingers over a petal.

"And this is for you," he replied. The lei in his hands was far slimmer than the one you had made, more delicate. But it was beautiful. The way the stalks of the flowers had been wound together kept it sturdy, but it was still dainty, each flower being a slightly different colour from the last and giving you a tiny rainbow round your neck.

"Oh, Maui," you whispered, overwhelmed. He gently swept back your hair and put his lei round you.

"Eh, it was easy," he said.

"He started over five times!" one of the little ones in earshot chimed in. Maui looked disgruntled but didn't try to disagree. You took his hand and kissed his palm.

"I love it. And I love you."

The voices of the villagers began to swell as the two of you began to move in sync. You danced side by side, not touching, but mirroring each other's actions perfectly. It was a dance that ebbed and flowed like the sea, but one as old as time itself, as love itself.

Aleki gave his blessing, tearing up a little himself. And when you were done Maui picked you up in his arms, raising you off your feet, and kissed you. There was a cheer and sounds of rejoicing all around you, but you kept your attention on Maui and his lips, and the feeling of your leis brushing together.  
  
"We should celebrate with them," you said eventually, resting your forehead on his. From the corner of your eye you saw everyone giving you a little privacy. Maui sighed.

"I suppose. But I want you for myself," he muttered, as quietly as possible.

"There'll be time for that later. Come and be with your new family," you said, taking his hand. "It will make your wife very happy."

"Well when you put it that way..." said Maui, smiling, and let himself be dragged into the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut next chapter. There will be plot next chapter too but I'll put breaks in around the smut so you can skip over it!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tags: mentions of alcohol, getting drunk (ish).
> 
>  
> 
> Big gap round the smut so you can read round it !

Something about a wedding brought out the happiness in everyone. At some point someone had brought out some drums, and there was now a circle of musicians creating music. It seemed like half the village was on their feet. You danced next to your cousin, a little giddy. In preparation for the event some of your village people had brewed the fermented drink from the ti plant, and it was making you light headed and giggly. But if there was ever a time to be light headed and giggly surely it was at your wedding.

Hi'ilei was in a similar state to you, but a bit worse as she had drank more - she kept falling a step behind and standing on your foot. This made the two of you collapse into hysterics.

"Whoa, come on," Maui's gentle but firm voice said into your ear. You looked up at him as he put a hand on your waist to support you. You didn't need supporting, though clearly your cousin did, from the way she was swaying dangerously towards the fire. Malosi rushed up and carefully guided her to the side where she collapsed in the sand.

"Bless her," you said with a sigh. You leant your head on your husband's chest and looked up. The glow of the flames reflected in his eyes and made them look warm and inviting. Somewhere you could build a home. Somewhere you could give your heart away to.

"You okay, big guy?" you murmured. Maui chuckled.

"I'm doing fine. Just wanted to make sure you weren't about to dance away into the night never to be seen again."

"Why would I walk away from the best thing that's ever happened to me?" you asked, in earnest. Maui didn't have a retort so kissed you instead.

"Come on. Come eat something. The pork is really good," he said, leading you towards where a variety of foods had been set up on a reed mat. You made yourself up a bowl and when you turned, Maui had already gained an audience.

An audience of small children.

"Make him do it again!" laughed one of the little girls. Maui shrugged.

"I can't make him do anything! But if you ask him _really_ nicely..."

"Please! Please!" came the squeaky chorus. You came closer to inspect, and saw the object of their attention was mini Maui on Maui's chest. Mini Maui was acting coy, gesturing for more cheering. When they were making enough noise mini Maui jumped down onto the tattoo of a sea serpent and pulled on its fins, making it rear up and gallop off round Maui's stomach. The children went wild.

"Maui! You're so amazing!" shouted one of the children, who seemed so excited that he might be sick. Maui caught your eye and winked. You stuck your tongue out playfully.  
  
You let Maui entertain the children until they either wandered off or were put to bed. You still remained at the fire pit, enjoying the company of you friends and family. You found yourself sitting next to your husband, then leaning against him, then at some point ended up sitting in his lap. Your arms were around his neck and you were resting your head on his shoulder, as one of his hands had found the gap between your top and skirt and was caressing the bare skin there with his thumb. You were a bit tired, but a much more... primal idea was crossing your mind. You stretched so that you could make your ass rub against Maui's cock. He froze as you did so. You smiled to yourself and did it again.

"Careful what you're doing there," he muttered, voice low. You looked at him, a cocky smile on your face.

"I'm sorry, am I doing something you don't like?"

"You know that is the complete opposite of the problem," he pulled you close and planted a kiss on your neck. "What do you say, shall we... retire for the evening?"

You bit your lip and nodded. Maui arranged his clothes as discreetly as he could and the two of you got to your feet.

"We're gonna... go to bed," you said, vaguely.

"Woohoo! Go consummate that marriage!" Hi'ilei shouted from where she was amazingly still on the floor. You went red. Aleki pulled a face.

"Please don't make me think about that," he said, looking a bit sick. He turned to you anyway. "We set up a little place just outside the village for the two of you, as is custom. Off you go, you crazy kids."

Hand in hand you and Maui followed the path Aleki had directed you in. Away from the noise and the hubbub of the village had been cobbled together a little hut for you and Maui, nothing fancy, but big enough for the two of you and with wall hangings giving you privacy.

You went inside and lay down on your back on the sleeping mat there. Maui looked down at you, and you stretched your body out to show off your figure in the most flattering way.

"So how does it feel to be a married man?" you asked.

"It feels pretty much the same as before, just I get to call the most beautiful woman in the world my wife."

"Mm, say that again."

"What, wife?" he repeated. "My wife. My beautiful, intelligent, remarkable wife."

"My husband. My strong, brave, handsome husband," you sighed. Maui had lowered himself over you, but positioned himself in such a way that he could rest his head on your chest and look up at you.

"I mean, if you're saying it, it must be true. But don't complain about the size of my 'massive ego' when you're the one responsible for it."

You put your head back and chuckled as Maui began to kiss the exposed skin from where your top was riding up.  
  
"It is all true. And I love you further than the horizon could stretch."

"I love you too," Maui whispered into your skin, and then met your gaze again. "I love you. In all my years, you're the best thing to ever happen to me."

 

 

 

 

His hands were deft with your clothes. He undressed you like he was unwrapping a present, until you lay before him, naked and wet, ready for him. He breathed a jagged breath as you run your hand down your body and dipped into your slick folds. You raised your fingers to his mouth and he licked you clean. Then his head dipped between your legs and you felt the very tip of his tongue reach out and gently touch your clit, sending an electrical storm up your body. You instinctively tried to kick out your legs in enthusiasm but Maui had a great forearm clamping your lower half down to stop you bucking. It was infuriating, the way he only teased you, when what you wanted was a rough mouth to bring you to climax.

"This is meant to be good," you huffed, "its my wedding night."

"My wedding night too," he retorted, not moving his head from its position, barely even moving his tongue. You squirmed a little as he kept giving you the most gentle and featherlight of touches, until you could take no more. With a surprising amount of strength you kicked free and forced Maui onto his back, and he accepted it and pulled you down onto his face, and you ground against his solid face and came all over his mouth. Then as he licked you from his face you backed up so you could run his thick, hard cock up and down the length of your slit.

"Maui... demigod of the wind and sea... I can't wait to have you inside me," you moaned, and the noise he made in response was filthy. You grabbed him by the shaft and used his head to rub against that sweet spot, revelling in the velvety feel of his cock against your slickness.

"My husband, I want you to fill me up, to complete me. I want to take every inch of that lovely thick cock of yours," you hissed. Maui's hands came to your hips.

"I can't wait... gods... I can't wait to feel you around me... so wet for me... so ready for my dick," he growled, one hand reaching up to your mouth so you could suck his finger, the other holding you in place above his erection. You couldn't give yourself the agony of waiting, and so you slid him inside you in one movement. He cried out in ecstasy, and so did you when you began to move.

He flipped you over, so you were on your back, and moved your legs to be over his shoulders. You let out a little "woo!" as he did so, and he held you by the calves in place as he slammed in and out of you.

"Say... it..." he muttered. Your head rolled back, and you knew what he wanted to hear.

"My husband..."

"My wife."

He spilled inside you. It wouldn't be the last time that night.

 

 

 

 

The next day the whole village had turned out again. They'd given you a big canoe, one with two outliers. One that was meant for many people, not just two. You had tried to object, but your brother had pointed out there wouldn't be a reason for them to go anywhere for a very long time.

You cried, of course. You sobbed into your cousin's hair and held your brother tight.

"Come back and visit us," Hi'ilei said through choking tears.

"Of course. You're my family," you said, picking a lock of hair off her tear stained cheek.

"And I'll keep her out of trouble," said Maui, and you grinned, because that probably wouldn't be true.

"I'll m-miss you!" cried Hi'ilei and you hugged her again.

"I'll miss you too. But I'll be back. You try and stop me," you said, giving her a big kiss on the forehead.

"Don't die. Again," said Aleki. You could see there was a bittersweet pain in his eyes. He was happy you were happy, but to send his only sister off onto the ocean with her new husband for who knew how long... well, it wasn't easy.

"I won't. Don't die. At all," you replied. Aleki managed a smile.

"I'm glad you found your happiness. Maybe I can find mine."

You gave your brother one last goodbye hug before you hopped onto the canoe. The whole village helped cast you off onto the ocean, off onto your new adventures with your husband. You waved and waved until they were out of sight and your arm ached.

"We'll be back," said Maui, comfortingly. You nodded.

"I know. But I'll miss them," you sighed, then turned to Maui with gusto.   
  
"So, honeymoon," you said. Maui laughed.

"You have any ideas?"

"Well... I was thinking we could go and bother some giant crab monsters in Lalotai?" you suggested.

Maui's face lit up.

"Have I told you today how much I love you?"

"Well, yes, but say it again."

"I love you, my nefarious and mischievous wife."

"And I love you too. I'll take the lead," you said, dropping down the sail and making the boat jolt so suddenly that Maui fell on his ass. He laughed.

Some things would never change.

 


	23. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An epilogue set five years after the last chapter.  
> Tags - children and pregnancy

Five years had once seemed like an awfully long time. But now, with an eternity ahead of you...

It still felt like an awfully long time.

Especially when the girls decided to start fighting.

"Iolana! Kala! Stop hitting each other!" you called, trying to sound stern. You couldn't really rush over and separate them yourself, what with a third baby wrapped to your chest in a sling, and the bump of a fourth on the way. The girls didn't stop.

"Maui!" you shouted across the waves. You saw him as a tiny dot coming to meet you over the horizon, in the form of a giant hawk. He had gone on ahead to let your family know that you were going to be arriving back soon. For the first time in five years. With your children in tow.

Maui landed, turning into a human as he did, and picked up one girl with each hand. He wouldn't be able to do that for much longer, as it would only be a few months until little Hani would no longer be strapped to you and would he waddling around, getting into mischief with his sisters. Perhaps Maui could turn into an octopus, you wondered.

"Girls, listen to your mother," said Maui, holding them at arms length away from each other. You could tell he wasn't particularly angry with them, he was never the disciplinarian. He absolutely loved his children and definitely spoiled them too much.

"But papa you said we have to be strong!" cried out Iolana, waving her limbs around as she tried to get another slap in on her sister.

"I did, yes, but remember you also have to be kind. Your mother once saved our lives through her kindness, when she made that sea witch see she didn't need the souls of mortals to feel good about herself. We didn't fight anyone then. Now, apologise to each other."

The girls muttered their apologies and Maui put them down, coming over to you. He placed a hand on your hip and a kiss on your neck.

"Though I think the moral of that story is flattery gets you everywhere," he muttered. "Speaking of, have I told you how radiant you are when you're sailing across the sea, all wind swept? And by radiant I mean I want to throw you down and ravish you on the boat."

You giggled but shushed him, making sure the children didn't hear. But the girls were playing and Hanoi was asleep. You winked.

"Look, it's not that I want to stop - because gods, you know what to do with that body - but if we don't calm down we'll end up with even more kids. And I love them but they are... exhausting."

Maui's hand wrapped round you and landed on your pregnant belly, stroking it with his thumb. That was another thing you had realised, you hadn't aged a day since you had left. Not a single wrinkle or blemish even after three children. Clearly being immortal meant you were going to look how you currently did forever. You couldn't be sure what would happen with your children, and only time would tell.

"Mama, papa, I- ewww they're doing it again!" cried Kala, popping up beside you. You saw she was commenting on where mini Maui and mini you were, for want of a better term, smooching. Their own little tattooed children ran in circles around them. If you kept going the rate you were you wondered if Maui would have room for any more members of your family.

"Sorry, do you not like seeing mama and papa kiss...?" Maui reached towards you making over-exaggerated kissing faces and noises at you. Kala stuck her tongue out in disgust.

" _I_ like seeing that you're in love. It's nice because it means you're happy," Iolana jumped in, looking smugly superior. Kala rolled her eyes at her sister. At all the noise, little Hanoi began to stir, and you began to hum quietly to soothe him.

"Mama, are we there yet?" asked Kala, attaching herself to your leg. You stroked her hair out of her eyes.

"Soon, my pearl. Are you excited?"  
  
Kala nodded and stuck her thumb in her mouth, calm enough to let her sister walk over and give her a cuddle. They were so sweet when they weren't fighting. Which wasn't often.

You weren't sure what you would tell them first, you considered, as your island looked into view. Would you discuss the adventures you and Maui had across the ocean before you had Iolana, your first child? Would you tell the story of the village you met who lived suspended above the mouth of a volcano? The man who lived all alone on an island save for his pigs? The little girl who seemed to have scales and gills?

  
Or would you say, you considered, how you and Maui found a way to fall in love with each other a little more every day, and how much you loved your family?

All of these things and more you were sure you'd tell, but as you saw figures waiting for you, including your brother, Malosi, and Hi'ilei with a child of her own on her hip, all you could think about was how the first words from your mouth would be "I missed you."

"You're crying," whispered Maui, and you hadn't even realised it.

"Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. What's up?"

"I just think I've found my happiness."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," you agreed, looking down at your daughters, your infant son, then up at your husband and those beautiful eyes of it. "It's where you are."

Maui smiled.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

 

\- the end -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading this, first of all. It means the world to me that all of you have read and enjoyed my work and honestly I'm so honoured you'd take time out of your days to read my writing. I didn't want to finish this fic because I've had so much fun writing it, but I'm also glad I could end it on a happy ending. 
> 
> I'll probably write some one shots of Maui/reader in the future but most likely nothing long like this. 
> 
> Thank you once again, and I hope you find happiness where you are <3


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